The Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire were at war. Vienna had been under siege for months. On 11 September a coalition of Christian forces, a Holy League blessed by Bl. Pope Innocent XI, arrived with Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, to lift the siege.
When he saw that the Turks were about to breach the walls of the city, Sobieski attacked earlier than he had intended.
On 12 September at 4 am the battle was closed. Sobieski had called on the protection of Our Lady of Czestochowa before the battle.
He sent his forces of 81,000 against the Turks’ 130,000. In the afternoon Sobieski led a downhill charge which broke the Turkish line and then seized the abandoned tent of the Ottoman general who had fled.
The Battle of Vienna halted the spread of the Ottoman Empire eastward into the rest of Europe.
Bl. Innocent XI commemorated the victory at Vienna by extending the feast of the Holy Name of Mary, which had been observed in Spain and by the Carmelites, to the whole Latin Church. One of the pair of churches in Rome near the Forum of Trajan is dedicated to the Name of Mary.
Today is the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, which in part commemorates the defeat of the Islamist Ottoman Turks by Jan Sobieski at the walls of Vienna.
Concede, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus:
ut fideles tui,
qui sub sanctissimae Virginis Mariae Nomine
et protectione laetantur;
eius pia intercessione
a cunctis malis liberentur in terris,
et ad gaudia aeterna pervenire mereantur in coelis.
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And, of course, beans found in the Turkish tents led to what has become the West’s favorite non-alcoholic beverage. The Mystic Monk Carmelites have a double reason to celebrate the Holy Name.
Our priest gave his homily on the battle of Vienna yesterday. He really did a good job showing how the taking over of Europe in modern times could be avoided if only the people had the faith of Christians like Sobieski.
Being a convert and very late to this party, I find the history of the Church fasinating and inspiring.
Thank you Father for all your efforts, they are appreciated!
Our priest gave a homily about this battle yesterday, too. The homily was fantastic…I was “glued to the pulpit”! Fr. also mentioned that legend says this battle is where cappuccino, bagels, and croissants came from – chefs and bakers ways of celebrating the defeat of the Turks. :)
What I think is remarkable about this is how our current understanding of the nature of radical Islam and its battle with the out culture has changed. In an earlier time it was clearly belived that the Christian west was worth defending and that God would prefer that the followers of his Son win. I do not think there is any evidence that this is any longer the case.
A few anecdotes:
Item : The pettionary prayers at Mass … Asks God to protect “all those affected by violence and war” Ok sounds fine… not sure what it really means however, given that our troops are trying to kill the Jihadists in places like Afghanistan, and of course the Jihadists are trying to kill our troops… It would seem like the only way for this thing to end justly is for God to not protect the Jihadists… Did the ancient Israeli’s ask God to protect the Egyptians? The Phillistines?
Item: My two oldest children are in Catholic high schools, the decan is teaching a class in scripture…. It is a few days ago jsut before 9/11 , He tells my son that all Muslims are not bad.. ( well of course not….) But in fact there are “Catholics who would bomb abortion clinics….. My son (good for him!) thinks this is a bit misleading to the class, after all there is little risk that there will be a WMD placed in a major city by a crazed pro-lifer, but we do have plenty of individuals with who are openly proclaiming the need to make Jihad against the great Satan ( US) or the “Zionist entity”.. (Israel).. he mentions to the instructor.. all well and good about not all Muslims being “bad” , of course not but isnt there something more true about Christianity.. don’t the 10 commandments say …Thou shalt not have false Gods before me… The Deacons response… to the scripture class .. No thats not in the Bible !! ( Should I copy the text from Deuteronomy?
Item.. Even the Vatican’s Statements are a little Opaque… Violence should neveer be used to “solve problems”… IS this really what anyone on either side is doing? Are Wars really the result of poor attempts at problem solving? If only we listened to the legitimate grievances we would get along better and their would be peace. Or is the real issue that there are societies run by men who think thier GOd commands them to bury woman accused of Rape up thier wastes and stone them to death, and that thier God also commands them to fly planes into skyscrappers killing people they never met half a world away… And that we in the West are attempting to defend ourselves..
There was an earlier time when Christians believed they had the truth and the truth was valuable enough to defend. At that time God saw to delvier us from our enemies. There are not many who believe this now. Whe Israel lost her way, The typical biblical punishment was for God to withdraw his protection. One must hope that somewhere in some monastery there is some monk or cloistered nun whose prayers are keeping us from the same fate.
Mdepie – “There was an earlier time when Christians believed they had the truth and the truth was valuable enough to defend”.
I still believe this, so perhaps I’m a heretic, along with Innocent XI, Don John of Austria, Joan of Arc, and all those Poles who fought the Germans and lied to them to save Jews. Good company.
What you said, Mdepie! Exactly! Yes! Yes! Yes!
We have forgotten our past history….where are the twenty-first century versions of Jan Sobieski?
On a more prosaic note, when I visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in 1977, I saw a painting of Jan Sobieski at the Battle of Vienna in the ‘Polish chapel’. Wonder if it’s still there….
Catholics must be careful to not undersestimate the many negative and harmful attributes of Islam, which is so often the case in a world concerned mainly about political correctness. It will be nearly impossible for civil societies and nations to progress along the path of peace until the Muslims finally move away in great numbers from the errors they hold about the nature of God, the dignity of women and children, the nature of law, etc. How the post-Vatican II Catholic Church can speak in a positive manner about Islam, which it often does, is baffling. The few things that Islam does get right is completely overshadowed by the grave evils of the religion, a religion whose founder was so corrupt that he consummated his marriage with a girl who was still a child.
Let us all work for the conversion of Muslims through prayer, fasting, and zealous, yet peaceful, missionary activity.
This is fascinating – at the EF parish I attended yesterday the priest’s sermon focused on a detailed history of this battle. In fact, Jbuntin gives a pretty good synopsis of what was said. I wonder if we were at the same mass? (Mater Dei, Irving TX)
May Our Lord Jesus Christ and his Blessed Mother be praised today! That is a great story Fr. Z! Many of our feastdays come from victories over Islamic invaders, including the feast of the Transfiguration, in memory of the Siege of Belgrade.
I agree whole heartedly with MDepie. Pope Benedict XV (Pope during World War 1) was the first Pope not to take sides in a major European conflict.
There are many saints who were “for violence.” Bl. Urban II called the First Crusade. Other saints preached it, including St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and St. John of Capistrano.
On the thought of St. John of Capistrano, he was at the Siege of Belgrade in the 1400′s. He preached to the peasants and monks and raised an army that defended Hungary from the Turks. His feast is October 23. I just read about him today.
Finarfin
Are there any good books in English about this battle that anyone recommends? I definitely mentioned this history today in my homily, but I would love to more of the details. Thanks.
Had cappuccino and croissants today, in honor of the Feast! (Greek food for Marathon, later….)
Mdepie – “There was an earlier time when Christians believed they had the truth and the truth was valuable enough to defend”.
Echo
It’s not just that the relief force attacked sooner than expected (because the Turks were launching their final assault and sappers were close to breaching the walls) but they hurried to launchthat attack right over and through the hills of the Vienna Woods to the west of the city. How they accomplished that over that rough terrain never ceases to amaze me.
The Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe. It is a scholarly, secular account. While living in Vienna we went to Kahlenberg where the Church commemorates Sobieski’s coming to break the siege of Vienna. I learned the history then, but it took you, Fr Z, to teach to Church history, involvement of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Thank you. One interesting thing, the Viennese were not very brave in that encounter with the Ottomans, as they are not in confronting the threats at their door now. Actually, what’s happening in Linz is pretty true to form.
BTW Perchtoldsdorf, a village just south of Vienna had surrendered to the Turks some weeks before, and most of the inhabitants who had not died in the battle and siege were slaughtered or enslaved.
I love this feast. Three generations of couples in our family were married on this day. It is, obviously, a special day for us. The Marist priest here did a good job referring to the feast, as it is one of the patronal feasts of the Marist Order in Europe. The feast is actually on the calendar as a memorial option in this diocese as well.
I find Warren Carroll’s histories the best for this sort of thing.http://www.fraternitypublications.com/the-history-of-christendom-series.html
His history on the Russian revolution is the best ever-written, I think.
As to a secondary celebration, today is the feast day of St. Eanswythe of Folkstone, one of the earliest nuns in England. http://www.thisisfolkestone.co.uk/steanswythe.htm
I was up at our SW Michigan cottage and could not make the EF Mass in my home city of Chi nor in Grand Rapids, MI. So I ended up having to suck it up at the ever-insipid, ever-improvised Novus Ordo in our leftie leaning little beach town. The blessings of generic peace were begged from a syncretistic “god”; “Let There Be Peace on Earth” was banged out on piano and guitar; and we were exhorted to forgive the “terrorists” (thus to my mind we were urged to grant what Lutheran Rev. Bonhoeffer so aptly named “cheap grace” of granting and demanding forgiveness without repentance). Jihad, Islamic doctrines and those who follow it and believe they need no forgiveness to kill infidels in Allah’s name were NEVER mentioned, of course.
But our improviser of Canons priest pal and his limp wristed deacon failed to count on Bev being there when, after the Creed, they presented the petitions and then invited us to add our own outloud. I assure you, I DID! You should have seen the scowl of the peace-at-any-price pew pansies when I prayed “For those Christians in Muslim dominated lands dwelling as second class citizens for whom each day brings another 9/11 of suffering and martyrdom under Sharia law.”
After Mass, being hard headed Calabrian gal that I am, I delighted in telling limp wrist deacon that I would have preferred ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS to “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” His tiny little laugh reminded me of C.S. Lewis’ “men without chests” quote.
@rroan, Not in Irving but Ft. Worth. We share 2 wonderful priests!
Dear @Mdepie, I believe so still.
Viel Tausend schon vergossen
mit heilger Lust ihr Blut.
Die Reihn stehn fest geschlossen*
in hohem Glaubensmut (zwo, drei, vier):
Gott, wir loben Dich!
Gott, wir preisen Dich!
Oh laß im Hause Dein
uns all geborgen sein!
Excuse the German. A translation: Many thousands have yet shedded with holy lust their blood; the ranks are firmly closed in high fortitude of faith. God, we’re lauding Thee, God, we’re praising Thee, oh let us all be secure within the House of Thine.
This is the original sixth stanza of the Ein Haus voll Glorie schauet, which has about the function of a national anthem of the Church. Not untypically (some might say), the stanzas have been removed from the 1975 prayer- and songbook. Yet also the modern version (which is the original 1st plus additions) is still a fine song.
[*For those who feel reminded of the Horst Wessel song: The line is about 50 years older than it and was used on Catholic anti-Nazi meetings. Hence, I have no intention to be ashamed of it.]
Avanti Bev: you go, girl! Good for you!
To the devil with ‘political correctness’!
@Jbuntin: I was there, too! Father Wolfe is great, isn’t he? Father Longua is my spiritual director. I loved the sermon. I had never heard of The Battle of Vienna before yesterday. I remember the sermon Father gave on the Victory of Lampano(?) St. Pius V and the sea battle over the Muslims.
Jbuntin, maybe I can meet you before Mass in Fort Worth or something..
Denita-that’s ‘Lepanto’.
Sobieski later stated: “veni, vidi, et Deus vicit”. And the canopy from the tents left by the Turkish invaders was used to make priestly vestments.
Dear Father Zuhlsdorf,
Thank you so much for posting this entry to your blog.
Today is one of my most favorite feast days on the Church calendar. When the world has me feeling beaten, down and a little depressed, I recall the deeds and words of King John Sobieski and his loyal cavalry and soldiers. When things looked in doubt for them, Sobieski entrusted himself and his army to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Czestochowa. Sobieski and his army successfully defended a a city and a nation not their own.
King John Sobieski credited the victory to God, not himself or his magnificent Hussar cavalry.
Certain of the spoils of the battle can be seen in a museum in Warsaw (I don’t know the name of it), among them the vizier’s saddle and the crescent flag.
I had a similar experience to AvantiBev. On Saturday evening, our parish priest, who is is an ex-Navy chaplain was a little overcome as he tried to give his homily. For once, he stayed at his pulpit instead of roaming around. He pointed out the importance of forgiveness, but nothing about the persecution of Catholics at the hands of Islam, of course. The Most Holy Name of Mary was omitted from the Mass Schedule for the week, the only day so not mentioned.
I wish we had gone to the Latin Mass at St. Boniface. Fr. Myers would not have dropped the ball.
I get annoyed sometimes. There are five US bishops in charge of dioceses or archdioceses from Pittsburgh – two cardinals – and one Churchman of the Year -in an area with many Catholics of Polish descent, (Allegheny County is over 50% Catholic) and almost nothing here was mentioned at all.
I admit to having, sometimes, a little too much pride in this day, but, hey, I’m Polish.
The conclusion of a letter Sobieski sent to his wife after the battle: “Thanks be to Heaven, now the Half-Moon Triumphs no longer o’re the Cross, And ’twas thrown down from St. Stephen’s Steeple in Vienna (whom it had o’retopt so long) immediately on the Defeat: Neither have the Turks any occasion to upbraid us with their Blasphemous Mahometan Proverb. Ye Christians where is Your God?”
Here is a link to the letter: http://personal.ashland.edu/~jmoser1/enlight/sobieski.htm
Father, sto lat taj dzi?kuj?!
(may you live 100 years and thank you).
Oh, one other thing….
I found out…that the Most Holy Name of Mary was removed from the Catholic calendar in 1969, but was re-inserted by Pope John Paul II in 2002.
See the link: http://vultus.stblogs.org/2010/09/the-most-holy-name-of-mary.html
ironically Poland and Turkey/Ottoman Empire would latter become close allies, so much so that even after the partition of Poland by Austria and Prussia the Ottoman Empire was the only country during the 120 years to still recognize Poland and have a fully staffed Polish embassy, there is a “Polishtown” outside of Istanbul, founded by refugee leaders of the various failed Polish revolts during the 19th century
How did Chesterton describe Sobieski – “the last knight of Europe”? Contrasted hus staunch defence of Christendom with the hand-wringing of the effete decadent monarchs of other countries (France in particular).
May we have kings and nobles again please? Real ones?
@ samgr:
That version of coffee’s history is a bit overdone. The Europeans had known about coffee since at least the Crusades, it was one of the commodities of the spice trades, it was one of the things that inspired Marco Polo’s trip and it was one of the ways the Portuguese hoped to pay for their exploration. Stop and think — the Christians knew exactly what the beans were for, didn’t they? They tried their level best to make the drink and make it palatable, didn’t they?
What is true is that the Turkish variety was so strong that they had to cut it with more cream and even honey. They colored it so light that it was almost the tan of the Capuchin habit. One of the key advisors during the siege had been Fr. Marco d’Aviano, now Blessed (? or beatified?) who was a Capuchin — and that’s the root of “capuccino”.
@ Miseno — check out John Stoye’s Siege of Vienna. A very quick read, and very detailed. And yes it is a story worth hearing about — full of heroism in defense of hearth and home and the Faith.
Thanks to all for the book – and other King Jan III Sobieski – references!
Of perhaps ‘tangential’ but real interest may be Jan Dobraczynski’s episodic historical novel, spanning the time of the Miraculous Image arriving in Poland to that of Pope John Paul II, ‘Meetings with the Madonna’ (dedicated to the memory of his friend, Stefan Cardinal Wyzynski) published in 1979 and in Piotr Goc’s English translation first in 1988, and still (so far as I can see) available pretty easily new or second-hand!
Thanks all for the book suggestions. Blessings!
Check this out:
http://www.romeofthewest.com/2007/09/photos-of-cathedral-of-immaculate.html
This is a series of photographs of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, Ill. Scroll about 3/4 of the way down and you will see a stained glass window that portrays John Sobieski kneeling on the battlefield thanking God after his victory at Vienna.
If you’re wondering how it ended up there, the bishop that built this cathedral in the 1920s (Bp. James Aloysius Griffin) chose as his “theme” for these windows, depictions of significant moments when the Catholic faith played a significant role in European/Western history (north side) and American history (south side). He put Sobieski at Vienna up there with Pope Leo the Great confronting Attilla the Hun. The south side, by the way, includes windows depicting George Washington with Bishop John Carroll and Abraham Lincoln sending Abp. John Hughes to France to talk Napoleon III out of recognizing the Confederacy.