The image of the Virgin on all banners!

More than a century after their defeat at Lepanto (1571), the Turks attempted to invade Western Europe by land in 1683. The Grand Vizier had 150,000 to 300,000 men under his command. He pledged to take Belgrade (Serbia), Buda (in today’s Hungary), Vienna (Austria), then enter Italy and descend on Rome, "all the way to the altar of Saint Peter."

In August 1683, an Italian Capuchin and great mystic, Fr. Marco d'Aviano (beatified by Saint John Paul II) was appointed grand chaplain of all the armies of Europe. He lifted the spirit of Vienna and managed to convince the King of Poland, John III Sobieski, to come to the rescue of the capital, with his small army of only 40,000 men.

The capital had been under siege since July 14th and was about to surrender. The balance of power was not in favor of the European troops. But Vienna asked the Virgin for her intercession and put her image on all the banners.

On September 11, 1683, Father Marco celebrated Mass on Mount Kahlenberg (a hill just outside Vienna which dominates the city) for the whole army, served by the Polish king. He predicted an astonishing victory.

Troops led by John III Sobieski and Duke Charles of Lorraine attacked the Ottomans at dawn on September 11th. The women and children prayed in the churches, imploring the help of the Virgin Mary. That same evening, the Grand Vizier's banner fell into the hands of Sobieski. The danger of the march on Rome was averted.

Rome, September 11, 2015 (ZENIT.org)