The History of the Rosary Crusade in Austria

Despite the communists' defeat in the 1946 elections, it became increasingly clear that Moscow intended to formally annex the part it occupied.

At that time, a Franciscan friar, Father Peter Pavliczek, returning from captivity, made a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the Marian shrine of Mariazell. He asked the Mother of God what should be done to save the country, and heard an inner voice: "Pray the Rosary daily, and peace will come."

On February 2, 1947, Father Pavliczek began preaching about the Rosary Crusade in the spirit of Fatima as reparation for offenses against God, for the conversion of sinners, for peace and salvation for the whole world, and especially for Austria. The faithful committed themselves to praying the Rosary in their homes for the country's liberation, public devotions were held in churches, and processions of hundreds, sometimes thousands of people, praying the Rosary, went through towns and villages.

In 1949 the situation became critical: after rigged elections, Czechoslovakia and Hungary fell definitively into communist hands, and persecution of the Church began there (for example, the Hungarian primate Cardinal Mindszenty was sentenced and imprisoned). New elections were approaching in Austria.

In such a situation, Father Peter decided to intensify the crusade: he proclaimed five days of public prayers. The result: in the elections, the communists won only 5 seats. However, in Berlin, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov told Chancellor Figel: "Do not have illusions. What we have once occupied, we will never give back."

The Chancellor asked Father Peter to further strengthen the prayers. By April 1955, the Rosary Crusade already had 500,000 members. The new Chancellor Raab was summoned to Moscow, where he was received on May 13. That evening he wrote: "Today is the day of Fatima. The Russians are even more stubborn. I pray to the Mother of God to help the Austrian people."

Humanly speaking, everything was lost, but at that very moment God intervened. Contrary to all expectations, Moscow recognized Austria's independence. The last Russian soldier left Austria on October 26, 1955. A huge thanksgiving ceremony was held in Vienna, and in their speeches, politicians and clergy unanimously repeated that the cause of the victory was the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary.