Poland and Europe were saved from the Turks 300 years ago today

For Saint John Paul II, September 11th did not only commemorate the tragedy of the Twin Towers in New York—at least not at first—but also the memory of the victorious intercession of the Virgin Mary on September 11, 1683 to save Vienna, Austria, after the imperial city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The Battle of Vienna was won by the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the latter represented only by the forces of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. (1)

It was after the 2001 terrorist attacks that the pope perceived the need to restore the feast of the Holy Name of Mary, which had been instituted as an ex-voto for that victory precisely, then abandoned in the 20th century actually because its association to the victory had been forgotten.

This why the Church now celebrates the Holy Name of Mary on September 12th, the day after the anniversary of that Polish victory. Traditionally, the saints—like Saint Bernard—have always invoked the name of Mary as a refuge in trials. This feast definitely has a spiritual aim, but historical reasons too, as Karol Wojtyla (Saint John Paul II) well knew since it involved the history of his homeland, Poland, and Europe, as evidenced by the frescoes of the "Polish Chapel" of the Basilica of the "Holy House" in Loreto.

(1) John III Sobieski, King of Poland from 1674 to 1696 and Grand Duke of Lithuania, is a Polish national hero, especially for defeating the Turks in Vienna in 1683.

Adapted from an article by Anita Bourdin

September 11, 2014 (Zenit.org)