AMDG
 The decisive cavalry charge of the winged Husars September 12, 1683, the feast of the Holy Name of Mary, after singing the Polish hymn, “Bogurodzica” (Mother of God). occupied Hungary, the eastern neighbor of Austria, since 1541, and aimed to expand further. They had even dreamed of turning the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome into a mosque. Pope Innocent XI had brokered an alliance between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Poland. A force of 300,000 troops of the Ottoman Empire of Turkey advanced to the gates of Vienna, thus threatening all of Western Europe. If he could take Vienna, it would be an easy road to the English Channel and Western Europe might be Muslim today. They were building tunnels under the walls. The Sultan sent a message to the King of Austria, telling him to stay in his palace so that he could take his head.
Pope Innocent XI ordered that
rosaries be
recited in the religious houses and churches of Rome. The same prayers of supplication were offered throughout the Holy Roman Empire. The situation was so dangerous that the imperial court left Vienna for Passau and took refuge there. There were special devotions at the Capuchin Church in Vienna to Our Lady Help of Christians, whose famous picture hangs there. It would later become the symbol of the victory over the Turks by Poland’s King Jan Sobieski.
Poland
had a major role in decisively saving Western Civilization from militant
Islam. Many Poles see a parallel between
Poland and ancient Israel in the Old Testament.
When close to God, they prospered.
A portrait of King
Sobieski of Poland with his gorget of Our Lady of Częstochowa.
In
desperation during this dark time Pope Innocent XI and his allies asked King
Jan Sobieski to be the Commander-in-Chief of a coalition of European armies
because he had already stopped Turkish intrusions into Poland. He had a crack cavalry, the best in Europe
consisting of the famous Polish lancer Hussar warriors. On the way to Vienna, his army made a detour
and stopped at Poland's national Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa to pray
before going into battle and leaving on August 15, the feast of the Assumption.
Kara Mustafa Pasha, Turkish
Commander Turks during the Siege of Vienna
King Sobieski arrived at Vienna on
the evening of September 11.
The next morning he ordered his men to attend Mass and observed the infantry
battle from high ground until late in the afternoon. Sobieski had four cavalry groups (three
Polish and one Austrian-German), a total of 20,000 men. They waited all day for the order to
charge. After 12 hours of fighting, the
Turkish troops below were exhausted. Finally
the order came. Sobieski’s cavalry,
20,000 strong swooped down from the hills upon the invaders and their camp. The Polish king led the charge, spearheaded
by 3000 heavily armed Polish-Lithuanian Lancer Hussars behind him.
Before going into the charge, the Husars sung
the Polish hymn, “Bogurodzica” (Mother of God), the national anthem at the time. The elite heavy lancers were developed from an earlier Hungarian
prototype. The Hussars were wearing a sort of wings made from eagle feathers
that made an eerie sound in the wind during the surprise attack under the
banner of Mary on the feast of the Holy Name of Mary, September 12, 1683.
In the painting on
the right the Cavalry of King Jan Sobieski of Poland overruns the Turkish camp. The king credited answered prayer: “I came; I
saw; and God won”.
This charge
broke the lines of the Ottomans, who were tired from the long fight on two
sides. In the confusion, the cavalry
headed straight for the Ottoman camps, while the remaining Vienna garrison
sallied out of its defenses and joined in the assault. This caused the horde of Turkish troops to
flee in panic, leaving behind their supplies.
In less than three hours after the cavalry attack, the Christian forces
had won the battle and saved Vienna from capture. Acknowledging the power of prayer, King
Sobieski commented: “I came; I saw; and God won.
King Jan Sobieski proclaiming victory.
The
Turks did not simply withdraw from the walls of Vienna; they fled. Such was the Turkish flight, they left behind
virtually all their stores and baggage. This is when the Viennese, Europe’s
most famous coffee-drinkers today, discovered the beverage. The Turks left quantities of it in their
stores when they fled. The defeat was
thorough and humiliating. The Turks left quantities of it in their stores when
they fled. See http://catholicism.org/ad-rem-no-45.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna. Some great videos and an exciting movie are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc-RWtovrqg – a 49 minute documentary and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvoRuO3g9Ew,
a full length movie. The same is dubbed
in Polish at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCr1TmqxO5Q.
The Battle of Vienna is just another
chapter in a 1300 year war between radical Islam and western civilization
that continues today. The great victory
gave the world a respite……the beginning of a decline of militant Islam until
the 21st Century. Now you
know why Osama bin Laden chose 9/11 for his attack on America…….revenge for a
humiliating defeat. Islamic terrorists
often use some significant date or anniversary for a strike. That began the 21st Century War on
Terror which really isn’t anything new, just another chapter in the centuries
old war. American troops had to fight
the Taliban in Afghanistan and ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Osama bin Laden and later, the so called
Islamic State had dreams of reviving the glory days of the old Caliphate and
turn the Basilica of St. Peter into a mosque.
Al Qaida and ISIS, defeated for now, are reduced to sporadic acts of
terror, while plotting to regroup and mobilize resources so as to again be a
world threat. Iran continues to be a
world threat. Vigilance will always be
required.
In
gratitude for the victory at the Battle of Vienna Pope Innocent XI extended the
Feast of the Holy Name of Mary on September 12 to the Universal Church. MOTHER MARY, WE ASK YOU TO INTERCEDE FOR
PEACE in our world as radical Islam continues to threaten us.
BRING
US BACK TO YOUR SON and NURTURE OUR FAITH.
Mary has come to the aid of her children many times. See the book “Saint Mary of Victory – The
Historical Role of Our Lady in the Armed Defense of the Faith” by Gary Potter.
Christianity
and Islam both revere Mary as the ideal woman.
The Quran (http://www.clearquran.com/quran-chapter-019.html)
devotes an entire chapter to her (Chap 19).
There is a reason that Mary chose the village of Fatima, which the Moors
named after Fatimah, the favorite daughter of Mohammed. May Mary use these commonalities and
connections to evangelize the Muslims, our brothers, and bring us world peace. May all Islam some day honor the holy name of
Mary as the Mother of God, Jesus Christ, the 2nd person of the Holy
Trinity. Then we will be united as one. APPENDIX Details of the Battle of Vienna In 1683, the forces of the Holy League, under Poland’s King Jan Sobieski, roundly defeated the Mohammedan invaders at the Battle of Vienna. Here is a brief telling of that triumphant occasion by Gary Potter (in “Saint Mary of Victory – The Historical Role of Our Lady in the Armed Defense of the Faith ”): Fortuitously, the pope of the day, Innocent XI, had just brokered an alliance between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Poland, which was also menaced by the Mohammedans. When it became known that no fewer than 300,000 Turks were advancing on the imperial capital, Pope Innocent ordered that rosaries be recited in the religious houses and churches of Rome. The same prayers of supplication were offered throughout the Empire. Still, the situation was so dangerous that the imperial court left Vienna for Passau and took refuge there. Meantime, there were special devotions at the Capuchin Church in Vienna to Our Lady Help of Christians, whose famous picture hangs there. It would become the symbol of the victory over the Turks by Poland’s King John Sobieski when he arrived on the scene after a series of forced marches from Czestochowa. The Polish army hit the numerically superior Turkish force with their surprise attack so hard, the Turks panicked. They did not simply withdraw from the walls of Vienna, they fled. (It is an aside, but of some cultural significance, that such was the Turkish flight, they left behind virtually all their stores and baggage. This is when the Viennese, Europe’s most famous coffee-drinkers, discovered the stuff. The Turks left quantities of it in their stores when they ran.) More to the point, in thanksgiving for the help given by the Mother of God for the victory at Vienna, which was won on her feast day, the 30th day after the Assumption, Pope Innocent extended the feast in honor of the Holy Name of Mary to the Universal Church. What isn’t mentioned here is that Sobieski began the forced marches to Vienna from the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, where he mounted his charger on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1683, to arrive in Vienna almost a month later. There were three occasions in the defense of Christendom against Islam in which Europe was saved by a John: John Hunyadi, the Hungarian King, and hero of the Battle of Belgrade, Don Juan of Austria, who led the Christian navies at the Battle of Lepanto, and Jan Sobieski, King of Poland. On each of these instances, the Christian people sang with gratitude, “There was a man sent from God whose name was John,” applying to the hero the description of the Baptist from the prologue of St. John’s Gospel. To continue the Catholic triumphalism a bit more, we will cite the Wikipedia article on the battle itself: After 12 hours of fighting, Sobieski’s Polish force held the high ground on the right. At about five o’clock in the afternoon, after watching the ongoing infantry battle from the hills for the whole day, four cavalry groups, one of them Austrian-German, and the other three Polish, totaling 20,000 men, charged down the hills. The attack was led by the Polish king in front of a spearhead of 3000 heavily armed winged Polish lancer hussars. This charge broke the lines of the Ottomans, who were tired from the long fight on two sides. In the confusion, the cavalry headed straight for the Ottoman camps, while the remaining Vienna garrison sallied out of its defenses and joined in the assault. The Ottoman army were tired and dispirited following the failure of both the sapping attempt and the brute force assault of the city, and the arrival of the cavalry turned the tide of battle against them, sending them into retreat to the south and east. In less than three hours after the cavalry attack, the Christian forces had won the battle and saved Vienna from capture. After the battle, Sobieski paraphrased Julius Caesar‘s famous quote by saying “veni, vidi, Deus vincit” – “I came, I saw, God conquered”. Sobieski’s heavy artillery in this battle was, as the article said, the “winged Polish lancer hussars.” These elite troops were Polish-Lithuanian heavy lancers developed from an earlier Hungarian prototype. They were “winged” because they wore eagle feathers, a detail variously explained in different histories. When the husaria (as they are known in Polish) went into battle, they customarily sang a Polish hymn, the most ancient national anthem in the world, the Bogurodzica (Mother of God). A painting, by Józef Brandt, of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces singing the Bogurodzica before battle can be seen here. Oddly enough, the words of this chant do not mention the nation of Poland. It is a hymn to Our Lady and invokes also the intercession of St. John the Baptist. (To hear it on RealAudio, go here.) |
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