Feast of Our Lady of Ransom

[1] The Feast of Our Lady of Ransom is no longer included in the General Roman calendar, but continues to be greatly celebrated in certain places like Vallarpadam Church, in Barcelona and in the Order of the Mercedarians.

[1] Its charism of the redemption of Christian captives was similar to that of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity established some twenty years earlier in France by saints John of Matha and Felix of Valois.

Given that the Caliphate of Córdoba occupied a significant portion of the Iberian peninsula, the Mercedarians differed from the Trinitarians in that originally its membership held more knights than clerics.

The former guarded the coasts, and undertook the dangerous task of ransoming Christian captives, while the clerics were charged with the celebration of the Divine Office in the commanderies.

[4] On 10 August 1223, the Mercedarian Order was legally constituted at Barcelona by King James of Aragon and was approved by Pope Gregory IX on 17 January 1235.

[5] The Mercedarians keep this feast as a double of the first class, with a vigil, privileged octave, and proper Office under the title: "Solemnitas Descensionis B. Mariæ V. de Mercede".