It was customary in the Middle Ages, as formerly among the Romans, for the nobility to wear crowns of flowers as “chaplets.” These crowns were offered to persons of distinction as a sign of reverence. Our Lady as Queen of Heaven and of all souls has a right to the same homage, and so the Church asks us to offer her a threefold chaplet, or three crowns of roses, to which she has given the name of Rosary. This feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was established to commemorate the victory over Islam on October 7, 1571, a favor due to the recitation of the Rosary.