Four hundred fifty years ago, on 7 October 1571, the Christian fleet led by Don Juan of Austria won a resounding victory over the Turks at Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras. That victory, miraculously achieved by the Holy League even though it was clearly numerically and militarily inferior to the fleet of the Ottoman Empire, was attributed to the intervention of the Blessed Mother, who from that day on was venerated under the title of Queen of Victories and Help of Christians: the invocation Auxilium Christianorum that we recite in the Litany of Loreto was added following that miraculous victory. Every since then we have also celebrated the Blessed Mother as Queen of the Most Holy Rosary.