On October 7, 1571 a greatly outnumbered Christian fleet defeated the naval forces of the Ottoman Empire, effectively saving Christian Europe from imminent invasion by the Turkish Muslims. Prior to the battle, Pope St. Pius V, himself a Dominican friar, had called for all the faithful to pray the Rosary, asking Our Lady’s powerful intercession for victory. The crew members of the fighting ships also prayed the Holy Rosary, and they achieved an astounding victory. The Pope instituted the Feast of “Our Lady of Victory” in honor of this battle, which eventually became the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

On a more personal note, our community left Lawrence in 2012 when the Archdiocese sold the house where we were living at former Holy Trinity Parish. In 2015 we had grown to the point where we needed to open a new friary. We had an offer of a beautiful property in Ashby, but Cardinal O’Malley expressed a preference that we would be in Lawrence, so we decided to return here. We were blessed to find an ideal house in the Tower Hill neighborhood. We moved in on October 6, 2015. The next day we celebrated our first Mass in our new chapel. It was the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. There are no coincidences.

There are countless stories of miracles that have come about through the praying of the Holy Rosary. It is a powerful weapon against evil, as Padre Pio used to say. But it is also the bread-and-butter prayer of the Catholic faithful in our striving to grow in a deeper union with Our Lord Jesus Christ. On behalf of all the friars we would like to thank all of you again for your generous welcome and support as we have begun our service here at Holy Rosary Shrine. It is a great privilege for us. May Our Blessed Mother help us all to spread devotion to the Holy Rosary, and that the mysteries of the life of Our Lord would shape our existence, as the great St. John Paul II taught.

Pax et bonum.
— Fr. Peter