““Almost five hundred ships and about two hundred thousand men faced each other on the sea. But from the beginning of the battle, the Christians were hopelessly inferior to the Turkish naval power.

“Storm petrels circled over the waves in anticipation. Then, at almost nine in the morning, the sky grew dark. The greatest hope for the Europeans was in six galleons, heavy sailing ships assisted by oars but difficult to maneuver. They could scarcely use their long-distance cannons here. For this, they needed a fair wind.

“Notwithstanding, Andrea Doria finally raised the cry: “Long live Mary!” and hurled himself into battle. He was immediately outmaneuvered, his flagship forced aside and his contingent of ships separated. The Turkish admiral Uluch Ali was busy sinking the Genoese ships one by one. It was the beginning of the end. Don John of Austria’s flagship was boarded by the Turks. They took full advantage of their superiority everywhere: they had better strategy, they were more skillful fighters, and they had an insatiable will to win.

“Desperate, Andrea Doria hurled himself to his cabin below deck and fell to his knees before a new miraculous image of Mary. Now only you, Queen of Heaven, can help me—he begged her—if everything is not to be lost. That is, if Christendom is still dear and beloved to you. In tears, the young commander prayed to this foreign Virgin with the cross medallion.

“When Andrea returned to the deck, the wind had changed. A storm unleashed itself and swept the Turkish ships out of formation, dispersing them. Suddenly the Europeans could use the strength and scope of their firepower. The Spaniards boarded Ali Pasa’s flagship and beheaded Selim’s best admiral right on the deck. The Turks panicked and were unable to maneuver. Those who could swim tried to reach land through a blood-red sea. Those who could not, clung to flotsam. It was a horrible battle, an overwhelming victory for Christendom. Between the morning of October 7, 1571, and early afternoon, here on these waves, in this bay, at least thirty thousand Turks and 7,600 Christians died. (Four hundred years later, in World Wars 1 and 11, the German submarine fleet lost 33,472 men). On that day, fifteen thousand Christians were freed from the Turkish galleys where they had been chained to their oars. Very dramatically, and for the first rime, the victory put a stop to the triumphant spread of Ottoman Islam to the West. From that day, Turkish sea power kept declining.” (María of Guadalupe pgs. 210, 211 & 212)