Centuries Old Catholic Order Has Roots in Rescuing Captives Held by Muslims

Centuries Old Catholic Order Has Roots in Rescuing Captives Held by Muslims

Imagine this: It is the year 1225, and a small merchant ship from Spain pulls up its sails and anchors at a dock in Algiers, in northern Africa. But the ship's most important cargo is not olive oil or fruit. It is two Christian men who have offered themselves in exchange for other Christians who have been captured at sea by the Muslims. The men in the Spanish ship contact the Muslim rulers of the city, and reach an agreement that they will give up these two men in exchange for the two crewmen who had been captured.

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At another place in the city, the two captured crewmen peer out through the bars of a hot, dusty jail cell and see their jailers approach them with the two men. As the iron doors of the jail cell creak open and the men see that their liberty is apparent, they whisper thanks to God with gasps of incredulity for their newfound freedom.

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Thus begins another drama in the life of what was then a fledgling Catholic religious order whose purpose is to rescue Christians whose faith is in danger of being lost. The order's history explains that the group, the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, has its roots in the year 1218, when the Blessed Mother appeared in three different visions: to St. Peter Nolasco, a wealthy nobleman, St. Raymond of Penyafort, a professor of canon law, and King James I of Aragon.

According to the account, the Blessed Mother asked the three men to start a new religious order whose purpose would be to liberate Christians who had been kidnapped and held captive by the Muslims, or Moors. They were to do this by means of prayer and raising money to ransom the captives. They even took a vow to give themselves up as hostages if all else failed in obtaining the release of their captive brothers and sisters. The work of ransoming Christians continued until 1779, when the last captive was released.

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Was that the end of the Mercedarians? No. There is always a need to be ransomed from various forms of captivity. So the order, also known as the Order of Mercy, or Mercedarians, continued its work of helping people who were at risk of losing their faith and their lives because of new forms of captivity. Today they work in jails, marginal neighborhoods, among addicts, and in hospitals. They also work in parishes and schools.

Prayer: "Mary, our Lady of Ransom, intercede for those who are held captive to sin in any way, and help them to find the freedom that God wants for his children. Amen."

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