L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, as N o v e m b e r Veterans Day approaches I am reminded that on November 1 1 , 1 9 1 8 , t h e A r m i s t i c e agreement was signed, and fighting on all battlefields ceased at 11 a.m., when the g u n s o f W o r l d W a r I f e l l silent after 4 long years. The "war to end all wars" was finally over and a year later, in 1919, President Woodrow W i l s o n p r o c l a i m e d November 11 as Armistice Day to remind Americans of the tragedies of war. In 1938, the day by law became a Federal holiday a n d i n 1 9 5 4 , C o n g r e s s c h a n g e d t h e n a m e t o "Veterans Day" to honor all U n i t e d S t a t e s V e t e r a n s , because WWI, "the war to e n d a l l w a r " d i d n ' t a n d World War II and others fol- lowed. *** The NY World Trade Center Bombing in 1993 caused tower damage and over 1,000 deaths. The Twin T o w e r d e s t r u c t i o n b y Muslim suicide hijackers in 2001 ordered by Osama Bin Laden was the first time we became aware that we in the US are no longer immune f r o m t h e I s l a m i c v s Christianity "Holy Wars" t h a t h a v e b e e n g o i n g o n since the Crusades. We have r e c e n t l y c e l e b r a t e d t h e 4 5 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y o f t h e Battle of Lepanto, one of the most historically impor- tant confrontations between Christians and Islam. Pope Pius V, a Dominican pope, knew that if Europe were to be saved from the threat of radical Islam, it w o u l d o n l y c o m e a b o u t through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. It was his i n i t i a t i v e t o o r g a n i z e a Christian militia and ask all of Christendom to pray the rosary for victory against the Muslim threat. In prepara- tion for the confrontation, P o p e P i u s V h a n d p i c k e d Don Juan of Austria to be commander of the Christian fleet. A c c l a i m e d b y G . K . Chesterton as the last knight of Europe, Don Juan knew that he was about to engage in a holy war with Islam. Prior to sailing off to war, he gave orders that all blasphe- m y w a s f o r b i d d e n o n h i s ships and required that all o f h i s m e n f a s t f o r t h r e e days. He ensured that his vessels would have priests available to hear confessions and grant absolution. He also distributed a rosary to every man in his armada. Then, on the eve of battle, l e a d i n g b y e x a m p l e , h e required that all of his men take the spiritual sword of the rosary into their hands and pray it. On the evening of October 6, 1571, the day before the decisive battle, St. Pope Pius V himself led the rosary at the Dominican convent of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome. With tears in his e y e s a n d a r o s a r y i n h i s h a n d , h e e n t r u s t e d t h e Christian cause to the Queen of Heaven. On the next morning, the C h r i s t i a n f l e e t s e t s a i l i n search of the Muslim fleet to m e e t t h e m h e a d - o n . D o n Juan and his men had no idea that they were sailing t o w a r d a n a d v a n c e d a n d highly trained fleet of more t h a n 3 0 0 v e s s e l s a n d 100,000 men. The Christian fleet had close to 285 ves- sels, but only had 70,000 men, many of whom were unskilled in naval combat. The two forces caught sight of each other for the first time in the large bay just south of the town of Lepanto (now Nafpaktos), Greece. Once they saw each other, t h e y f o r m e d t h e i r b a t t l e lines. The battle lasted for five bloody hours. At one point, Don Juan steered his vessel t o w a r d t h e v e s s e l f r o m which Ali Pasha commanded the Islamic forces. Before the two flagships collided and their crews could engage i n h a n d - t o - h a n d c o m b a t , Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. Don Juan, filled with the spirit of God, danced with abandon on the deck of his ship. This act enraged Ali Pasha, but he was unable to take his revenge because a musket ball to the forehead immediately killed him. One of the armed prisoners who h a d b e e n f r e e d f r o m t h e Muslim ship cut off what was left of Ali Pasha's head and hoisted it on a pike. The banner of Allah was taken down and ripped apart, and the banner of St. Pope Pius V was raised in its place. The battle was a complete s u c c e s s f o r t h e C a t h o l i c forces. It was a complete and total victory for Christianity. In the battle formation of the Christian fleet, a deco- r a t e d a d m i r a l n a m e d Giovanni Andrea Doria was in charge of the right wing of the fleet. Aboard his galley ship, he carried a precious gift, given to him by King Philip of Spain: a replica of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that had been touched to the original! History attests that after t h e a p p a r i t i o n s o f O u r L a d y o f G u a d a l u p e occurred in Mexico in 1531, A r c h b i s h o p M o n t u f a r o f Mexico City had five copies o f t h e m i r a c u l o u s i m a g e made, each touched to the original image. One of these images was given to the king o f S p a i n i n 1 5 7 0 . K i n g Philip, in turn, gave his copy t o A d m i r a l D o r i a , w h o brought the image with him on his ship to the Battle of Lepanto A detail of Giorgio Vasari's Battle of Lepanto (Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Agreement. Author: www.zeno.org. License: Public Domain)

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