Beautiful Lady of the Rosary

Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary or Our Lady of Victory as this feast day marks the defeat of the Turkish Ottoman Empire by the Holy League at the Battle of Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras on October 7, 1571. It was a battle that the League should have lost.

The victory is attributed to all the faithful believers who prayed the Rosary as requested by Pope Pius V. Catholics throughout Europe were called upon to pray, seeking divine intersession on behalf of the newly formed Christian Navy. This new navy was vastly outnumbered, out skillet, out supplied, and defeat was eminent. And yet they were victorious. Believers point to this moment in world history as proof of the power of the Rosary.

As Catholics, we are encouraged to pray the Rosary every day. At the very least, we should pray when faced with difficulties and overwhelming odds against us. Our Lady, as the Mother of Jesus, is our heavenly mother as well. We are adopted children in faith. As a mother, she intercedes on our behalf and carries our requests to her Son. If you think for a moment that Mary has no influence, you are mistaken. Christ’s first public miracle, the Wedding at Cana, leaves no doubt that He took her requests seriously.

The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary reminds us that we have a strong advocate in our Blessed Mother, Mary. The entire month of October is dedicated to this unmistakable fact.

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What an amazing way to start this beautiful day. Enjoy and be blessed.

Brown Sugar Caramelized French Toast
1/2 cup Butter
2/3 cup packed Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
6 large Eggs
1-3/4 cup Milk
1-1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 (16 oz) loaf French Bread
Powdered Sugar for dusting

Heat oven to 350-degrees.

Melt butter, place in a mixing bowl. Add brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir until sugar has dissolved into the warm butter. Pour brown sugar mixture into a large glass casserole dish. Spread out evenly, set aside.

In a blender, lightly beat eggs with milk and vanilla. Pour into a shallow bowl or pie tin, set aside.

Trim ends from the French Bread. Slice remaining loaf into 1-inch thick slices. You should get 9 or 10 slices from a loaf. Dip the bread slices into the egg custard mixture, arrange snuggly in the prepared casserole dish.

Bake in the heated oven; uncovered; for about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven, loosen bread from the pan. With a spatula, lift Caramelized French Toast, place on a serving platter, brown sugar side sup. Drizzle any remaining brown sugar in the casserole dish over the toast. Dust lightly with powdered sugar, serve and enjoy. While butter on the toast is fine, there is no need to add syrup. This toast is sinfully rich and delicious.

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The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel