In her unfathomable wisdom, Holy Mother Church has given us the month of October to highlight the significance of the most holy rosary in our spiritual lives. 
During the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, when ships of the Holy League faced off against a fleet of the Ottoman Empire, Pope Pius V urged the faithful to invoke the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the recitation of the rosary. As a result, the significantly outnumbered Christian fleet won the battle. To commemorate this event, Pope Pius V, who was a Dominican, instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory on Oct. 7. In 1716 Pope Clement XI extended this celebration to the Universal Church as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  
Throughout the centuries the faithful have continued to mark this feast, and during this jubilee year the Church celebrated the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality Oct. 10-12. 
To recognize the Oct. 13 anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima was present during this celebration in Rome. On Oct. 11, the faithful venerated it at the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina during the day, then processed with it to St. Peter’s Square in the evening. On Oct. 12, the Holy Father presided over the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the morning at this location.  All members of confraternities, movements and prayer groups were invited to celebrate their Marian spirituality at that time.
The Marian jubilee was extended as Pope Leo XIV canonized the Apostle of the Rosary, Bartolo Longo, with other currently Blessed individuals, on Oct. 19. 
Raised in a Catholic family, Longo fell away from the faith during his early adult years and became a satanic priest. Through the ministry of a Dominican priest, Longo began to receive the sacraments again. He attributed his ongoing conversion to the recitation of and devotion to the rosary. During the remainder of his life, he performed charitable works, instituted the 54-day rosary novena, and founded the Shrine of the Most Holy Rosary in Pompeii in the late 19th century. 
Oct. 16 marked the 108th anniversary of the founding of the Militia of the Immaculata (MI). Founded by Saint Maximilian Kolbe during his seminary days in Rome, the Militia of the Immaculata encourages total consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom St. Maximilian Kolbe called “the Immaculata,” as a means of personal conversion and spiritual renewal of society.  Its members employ prayer and self-sacrifice as spiritual weapons in the battle for the victory of good over evil. Its goal is to extend “as far as possible the Blessed Kingdom of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.” (from the Consecration Prayer of St. Maximilian Kolbe, which can be found at www.militiaoftheimmaculata.com)
If one was unable to attend the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality in Rome, the faithful are encouraged to make a local pilgrimage to designated sites. In addition to the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City and four other sites in Utah, the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Salt Lake City was designated as such for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life on Oct. 8-9. Truly, its cloistered Marian spirituality continues to benefit all. 

Editor’s note: The local sites designated by Bishop Oscar A. Solis as pilgrimage sites for the 2025 Jubilee of Hope are the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, Saint George Catholic Church in Saint George, Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Orem, Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Ogden and Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church in Price.
Donna Masek is a Father Kolbe Volunteer of the Immaculata and a member of the Militia of the Immaculata National Council. She serves both its English and Spanish communities in the Diocese of Salt Lake City.