Pope St. Pius V (the Pope who codified the Tridentine rite of the Mass) established the Feast of Our Lady of Victory in 1571 in thanksgiving after the defeat of Muslim forces during the naval battle off Lepanto, Italy. Two years later, Gregory XIII changed the name of the feast to Our Lady of the Rosary, and set the date for its celebration as the first Sunday in October. Pope Clement XI extended the feast to the Universal Church in 1716, and later the date for the feast was set as October 7.

However, there is also a celebration for the Feast of Our Lady of Victories. In 1620, King Louis XIII of France made a vow that if his troops were successful in ousting the Protestants (Huguenots) from their fortress in La Rochelle, he would build a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin. After the victory in 1628, a site for the church was chosen on the property of the Discalced Hermits of St. Augustine in Paris.

Louis laid the first stone himself, one that was inscribed with a dedication to Our Lady of Victor­ies, on September 9, 1629. (The church building was completed only in 1740.) In 1630, a poor laborer entered the Augustinian Order and took the name Brother Fiacre. He took up residence at the shrine and lived there until his death in 1684. Brother Fiacre was renowned as a mystic. He had a vision of the Virgin in 1637, when Mary asked him to tell the king that the latter would soon be blessed with a son who would inherit the throne. Louis XIV was born on February 10, 1638, and, in thanksgiving, his father consecrated France and the royal family to the Blessed Virgin. Blessed John Henry Newman went there to give thanks for his conversion, which had been the subject of prayer there. Later, the young St. Thérèse of Lisieux prayed before the statue of Our Lady of Victories for Mary’s help in following her vocation.

The response for the following invocations is Pray for us.

Our Lady of Victory,

Victorious Daughter of the Father,

Victorious Mother of the Son,

Victorious Spouse of the Holy Spirit,

Victorious servant of the Holy Trinity,

Victorious in your Immaculate Conception,

Victorious in crushing the serpent’s head,

Victorious over all the children of Adam,

Victorious over all enemies,

Victorious in your response to the Angel Gabriel,

Victorious in your wedding to St. Joseph,

Victorious in the birth of Christ,

Victorious in the flight to Egypt,

Victorious in your exile,

Victorious in your home at Nazareth,

Victorious in finding Christ in the temple,

Victorious in the mission of your Son,

Victorious in His passion and death,

Victorious in His Resurrection and Ascension,

Victorious in the coming of the Holy Spirit,

Victorious in your sorrows and joys,

Victorious in your glorious Assumption,

Victorious in the angels who remained faithful,

Victorious in the happiness of the saints,

Victorious in the message of the prophets,

Victorious in the testimony of the patriarchs,

Victorious in the zeal of the apostles,

Victorious in the witness of the evangelists,

Victorious in the wisdom of the doctors,

Victorious in the deeds of the confessors,

Victorious in the triumph of all holy women,

Victorious in the faithfulness of the martyrs,

Victorious in your powerful intercession,

Victorious under your many titles,

Victorious at the moment of death,

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, blessed Lady of Victory,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Our Lady of Victory, we have unshaken confidence in your influence with your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Humbly we ask your intercession for all of us associated under your title, Our Lady of Victory… Amen.

 

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