October 7th marks the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Pope Saint Pius V instituted the feast formerly to Our Lady of Victory after an alliance of Catholic states defended against the advancing Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto in Eastern Europe on October 7th, 1571. The Christians were outnumbered and the victory was attributed to the praying of the rosary. Pope Clement XI extended the feast day to the Universal Church in 1716.
Greeting the Arabic-speaking faithful, he [Pope Francis] invited them to pray the rosary and carry it in their hands or pockets. The rosary, he explained, is the most beautiful prayer that we can offer to the Virgin Mary. “It is a contemplation of the stages of the life of Jesus the Saviour with his Mother Mary and it is a weapon that protects us from evil and temptation.”
The Pope also spoke about the rosary as a “contemplative prayer”, saying that, in meditating on the mysteries of salvation, “the loving face of God Himself, whom we are called to contemplate in eternity, is increasingly revealed to us.”
Pope Francis speaking about the Marian prayer during his First General Audience in October – Robin Gomes at SpiritDaily.org