Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (Patronal Feast of the Diocese of Toledo) - 7 October

Cathedral of Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary
Toledo, OH
Today is the patronal feast of the Diocese of Toledo. It also marks the beginning of the 2-year-long celebration (from October 7, 2009 through October 7, 2011) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic Diocese of Toledo in 1910.

The festivities kick off at 12 Noon today with a televised Mass from Rosary Cathedral that will be aired internationally on EWTN:

October 7, 2009
Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
Principal Patroness of the Diocese of Toledo

Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral
2535 Collingwood Blvd., Toledo.
12:00 p.m.

Celebrant: Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, S.T.D. Bishop of Toledo

Information on EWTN's broadcast of the Mass:

CATHEDRALS ACROSS AMERICA: FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY LIVE (90 mins)

From Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, OH. Bishop Leonard Blair, Celebrant and Homilist.

Wed 10/07/09 12:00 PM ET / 9 AM PT
Wed 10/07/09 6:30 PM ET / 3:30 PM PT

Here's more on this feast day:

The feast of the Holy Rosary was established by Saint Pius V on the anniversary of the naval victory won by the Christian fleet at Lepanto, October 7, 1571. The victory was attributed to the help of the holy Mother of God whose aid was invoked through praying the Rosary.

The celebration of this day invites all to mediate upon the mysteries of Christ, following the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary who was so singularly associated with the incarnation, passion and glorious resurrection of the Son of God. From the Christian Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours)

Prayers

Collect:
Lord, fill our hearts with your love,
and as you revealed to us by an angel the coming of your Son as man,
so lead us through his suffering and death to the glory of his resurrection,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away; and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Gospel Reading: Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

[More]

From EWTN.com:

Our Lady of the Rosary

Feast: October 7

Apart from the signal defeat of the Albigensian heretics at the battle of Muret in 1213 which legend has attributed to the recitation of the Rosary by St. Dominic, it is believed that Heaven has on many occasions rewarded the faith of those who had recourse to this devotion in times of special danger. More particularly, the naval victory of Lepanto gained by Don John of Austria over the Turkish fleet on the first Sunday of October in 1571 responded wonderfully to the processions made at Rome on that same day by the members of the Rosary confraternity. St. Pius V thereupon ordered that a commemoration of the Rosary should be made upon that day, and at the request of the Dominican Order Gregory XIII in 1573 allowed this feast to be kept in all churches which possessed an altar dedicated to the Holy Rosary. In 1671 the observance of this festival was extended by Clement X to the whole of Spain, and somewhat later Clement XI after the important victory over the Turks gained by Prince Eugene on 6 August, 1716 (the feast of our Lady of the Snows), at Peterwardein in Hungary, commanded the feast of the Rosary to be celebrated by the universal Church. A set of "proper" lessons in the second nocturn were conceded by Benedict XIII. Leo XIII has since raised the feast to the rank of a double of the second class and has added to the Litany of Loreto the invocation "Queen of the Most Holy Rosary". On this feast, in every church in which the Rosary confraternity has been duly erected, a plenary indulgence toties quoties is granted upon certain conditions to all who visit therein the Rosary chapel or statue of Our Lady. This has been called the "Portiuncula" of the Rosary.

(Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia)

UPDATE
I'm not sure what the delay is, but the Mass at Rosary Cathedral is not currently being shown on EWTN. It's somewhat annoying, as this is a big deal for those of us here in the Diocese of Toledo.

At any rate, here is a blurb from the Diocesan website about today's events:

Diocese Celebrates Patronal Feast Day Today

The Toledo Diocese will begin its centenary celebration today with a Patronal Feast Mass at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary that will be broadcast live on the EWTN as part of their "Cathedrals Across America" program.

The Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, S.T.D., Bishop of Toledo will be the Celebrant, with Assisting Deacons James D. Caruso, and Ronald D. Henderson and Gospel Deacon Alfredo M. Diaz. The Most Reverend Robert W. Donnelly, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Toledo and the Most Reverend Albert H. Ottenweller, D.D. retired Bishop of Steubenville will participate as Concelebrating Bishops. Masters of Ceremony are the Very Reverend Michael R. Billian, VE, Reverend Charles E. Singler, D.Min., and Daniel J. Demski.

The 90 minute inauguration of the centenery year will include General Intercessions in nine languages in honor of the immigrant parishes in the diocese. The Mass will also include the debut of the winning submission in the diocese's Hymn Competition for the centenary celebration. The hymn was submitted by Toledoan Daniel J. Knaggs. The Centenary Cross will be blessed by Bishop Blair during the Mass and the cross will begin its centenary pilgrimmage across the 19 counties of the diocese.

Admission to today's Mass is by ticket only. The Mass will be broadcast live on EWTN at noon, and a will be repeated at 6:30 pm.

UPDATE #2
Finally, an hour late, the broadcast begins.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Toledo Centenary Hymn Competition