Pope Leo XIV made a special invitation Sept. 24 for everyone to pray the rosary every day throughout October, which is traditionally observed by the Church as the month of the Rosary.

“Dear brothers and sisters, the month of October is now approaching, and in the Church it is dedicated in a special way to the Holy Rosary,” he said after concluding the weekly General Audience catechesis. “Therefore, I invite everyone, every day of the coming month, to pray the Rosary for peace: personally, in the family, in the community.”

He also invited employees and others at the Vatican to pray the Rosary in Saint Peter's Basilica daily at 7 p.m. 

Pope Leo will also pray the Rosary with the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on the evening of Oct. 11 at 6 p.m., during the vigil for the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality. He noted that Oct. 11 also marks the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

The tradition of praying the Rosary especially during the month of October dates back to the 16th century following the outcome of the Battle of Lepanto, according to the Nashville Dominicans. 

In the fall of 1571, a Turkish navy seeking to expand the Ottoman Empire was on its way to Italy, “threatening not only to destroy Rome, but to wipe out Christianity in Italy and perhaps in all of Europe,” the Nashville Dominicans website explains. 

Leading up to this threat, Pope St. Pius V, who was a Dominican friar with a strong Marian devotion, had founded a Holy League for a crusade to defend Christianity, according to the website. On Oct. 7, the Rosary Confraternity of Rome convened to pray for the Christian navy’s victory over the Turkish navy. Some miles away at sea near Lepanto, the crucial battle ensued. In the end, the Christian army was victorious. 

Pope Saint Pius V credited the victory to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession and proclaimed Oct. 7 the feast of Our Lady of Victory. The feast has since been changed to the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, the website notes. 

Overall, the website states, the historic victory at Lepanto resulted in both the special Oct. 7 feast day and the tradition of dedicating October to Our Lady of the Rosary. Concluding, the Nashville Dominicans site notes that in 1588, Pope Sixtus V had the late Pope St. Pius V’s remains transferred to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, marking “a permanent tribute to Pius’ love of the Blessed Mother and her Rosary.”