OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
By Francis A. Gaffney, O.P.
Lepanto marks the spot of victory,
O’er crescent cruel and strong, by forces weak,
Of hallowed cross; of which, “if sign you seek,”
’Tis not of man but a Divinity.
The white-robed Pius Fifth the Rosary
Uplifted like the rod of Moses, meek;
Whilst Ottomans on Christians wrath would wreak
And, as of old, engulfed them in the sea.
O Lady of the Rosary to-day,
Thy clients all beseech thee, hear their prayer,
And beg the Christ Who raging storms did quell,
Bid warring nations cease their bloody fray;
His power and thine honor, we declare,
O Thou All-Fair, thou joy of Israel.