MANILA, Philippines — Catholics celebrate this month the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the Philippines, Holy Rosary Month is marked with novenas, processions, and recitations of the Holy Rosary. The liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated every October 7.

At the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary on Quezon Avenue in Quezon City, also known as the Sto. Domingo Church, novena masses will be held to pay homage to Mama Mary for answered prayers, and petitions.

Historians say the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was instituted by Pope Pius V after the Christian victory over the Turks in 1571 and celebrates the intercession and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary to those devoted to praying the Rosary and meditating on the mysteries of the life of Christ, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) said.

In the 1570s, Pope Pius V called on all of Europe to pray the Rosary for the Christian armies who had been battling the Turks who were invading Europe from the east.

The faithful were ordered to recite the Rosary and go on a 40-hour devotion in Rome at the height of the battle.

The Christian fleet, outnumbered by the Turks, inflicted an impossible defeat on the Turkish Navy, demolishing the entire fleet in the battle of Lepanto on Oct. 7, 1571.

In memory of the triumph, he declared that day as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary because of her intercession in answering the mass recitation of the Rosary and obtaining the victory.

Because of this, Pope Pius V has also been called “the Pope of the Rosary.”

Legend also shows that the Rosary as a form of prayer was given to St. Dominic (1170- 1221) by Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, who entrusted it to him as an aid in the conflicts with the Albigensians.

In the Philippines, the second Sunday of October marks the feast of the Spanish naval fleet victory over the Dutch in 1636 off Bataan. The Spanish-Filipino forces traced their victory to ptayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, calling the naval triumph “La Naval.” To celebrate the victory, a long Marian procession was started in Intramuros.

The La Naval procession has been drawing thousands of the faithful to Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City and is now one of the highlights of October.

Pope John Paul II has called the Rosary his favorite prayer, in which we meditate with Mary upon the mysteries which she as a mother meditated on in her heart.

The Rosary is prayed by meditating the mysteries of the life and death of Jesus Christ. These mysteries are Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous.