Cardinal Müller calls for a return to the daily rosary
Müller linked Marian devotion to the military victory of 1571 and recalled the Virgin Mary's role in the plan of salvation
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called on the faithful to take up the daily practice of the rosary again. He spoke at a liturgical celebration on October 4 in Lublin, Poland, for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. In his homily, Müller linked the devotion to the Battle of Lepanto and to the Virgin Mary's place in the history of salvation.
The story of a spiritual victory
Müller recalled that in 1571 the Christian fleet, gathered under the name "Holy League," faced a clear disadvantage in numbers and weapons in the Gulf of Corinth. Pope St. Pius V responded by calling all of Europe to a spiritual mobilization: everyone was to take up the rosary and pray. That collective act of faith led to an unexpected turn in the battle, and the pope declared October 7 the feast of Our Lady of Victory, a title that later gave way to the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Müller said the victory at Lepanto came not from military strategy but from prayer to the Mother of God. He also spoke about Mary's place in God's plan of salvation and her readiness to accept God's will, saying that her "yes" to the angel began the redemption and that she is "after Jesus, Son of God and the only Redeemer of the world, the most important person in the history of salvation."
Marian devotion and the life of the Church
Müller said devotion to Mary is essential to the life of the Church, citing St. Cyprian of Carthage: "He who does not have the Church as Mother cannot have God as Father." He encouraged the faithful not to leave the rosary forgotten in a corner but to carry it with them and pray it during the day: on a journey, on a walk or at any quiet moment.
The rosary is not an outdated devotion, Müller said. Each time it is prayed it renews faith in the mystery of the incarnation and the redemption, and it is an act of trust in the Virgin's intercession before the heavenly Father. He closed his homily by inviting those present to trust in the Virgin Mary and to hand over to her, through every "Hail Mary," their worries, their families and their future. "Our Lady of the Rosary is waiting for our little 'Hail Mary,'" he said.
