This saint did what Catholics have always done in times of acute danger: fly into the arms of the most powerful Mother of God

                May 5 ------------- Pope St. Pius V

The island of Malta was a strategic military post which defended the Mediterranean Sea against invasion by Mohammedan ships. 

The Knights of Malta, a religious military order founded in 1080, governed the island. When Muslims hordes threatened Malta, Pope St. Pius V sent the following missive to King Philip II: 

"To Our Most Dear Son in Christ, Philip II, Catholic King of Spain, It is certain and secure that Our most powerful enemy, the Sultan of the Turks, is preparing a large fleet, an armada such as none that ever existed before. 

“He is making these preparations with the intent to assault Malta, destroy the Military Order of Saint John ( the Knights of Malta) and take possession of the island. It is said that he is eager to conquer it, both for the great strategic advantage it can offer and to repair for the shame suffered by the Turks in the previous siege. Since the Order cannot resist against such enormous forces for long, Our most dear son, Jean de la Valette, its Grand Master, is obliged to ask assistance of the Christian Princes against the common enemy, the enemy of Christendom."

This letter is beautiful.  A saintly Pope addresses a Catholic King as a son, a most dear son, asking for help to overcome a common enemy to help the Church and all of Christendom.  How marvelous to think that political life was enlightened by the Faith. 

A true Catholic can have nostalgia for that time when Christianity was united in the spiritual and temporal realms.  

Let us pray to St. Pius V for this grace.

Our Lady at Lepanto

When Saint Pius V ascended to Saint Peter’s throne, Christendom faced perils perhaps unequaled in its history of continual conflict, not the least of which came from the agitated and violent followers of Mohammed. All the information and intelligence that Pope Pius V had been gathering indicated that the Ottoman juggernaut was about to roll across the Mediterranean and adjacent lands, spearheaded by the Turkish fleet, with Italy and Rome as one of its targets.

Full story here:

http://americaneedsfatima.blogspot.com/2009/05/may-5-feast-day-of-saint-pius-v-pope.html