South Africa Needs Our Lady

South Africa Needs Our Lady

Winning the heart and soul of South Africa for Mary by spreading the Fatima Message

Winning the heart and soul of South Africa for Mary by spreading the Fatima Message

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Santiago de Compostella Pilgrimage 2026

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One of the 12 young men who, over Easter 2026, completed the 10-day hike from northern Portugal to Santiago de Compostela – the iconic Cathedral where lie the bones of the great apostle St James – was our very own Dominic Tuffin.  

The walk became a marvellous retreat from the modern chaos with lively and elevated conversation, great camaraderie, and countless prayers, visits to beautiful churches, etc. See below a personal testimony of Dominic to the grandeur of this Spanish escapade.

The Camino de Santiago was an absolutely phenomenal experience!

It was a time of prayer, of contemplation, of soul searching, and some suffering! It was a journey back through time, a look at 20 centuries of the Catholic Faith in Spain. It was a journey of following in the footsteps of many Saints, holy people, and fellow Catholics, starting with St James and going through history to the present time.

My fellow pilgrims and I started walking the Camino de Santiago on April 3rd, Good Friday. We had spent nearly a week travelling Spain prior to starting the Camino, admiring the monuments our Catholic brothers built in honour of God’s Glory over the centuries, and visiting holy sites and homes of Saints.

An ornate Holy Week float in preparation for a procession later on. We found it when visiting the church St. Teresa was baptized in.
During the Middle Ages, the walls of Avila were an archetypical symbol of strength. Reconstructed in the 11th century and boasting 87 turrets, it was considered one of the safest cities in Europe and was never conquered. Without a doubt, St. Teresa would have walked around its walls. Here, we can imagine part of what she would have been envisioning when she wrote "The Interior Castle."
The pilgrims stand by the equestrian statue of "El Cid." His legendary acts of bravery and Crusader idealism have been recounted and passed down through many centuries of history. We pray to be made ever-faithful knights of Mary and serve her even as "El Cid" served his King.

We arrived in Madrid at 6am on a cold early spring morning, and set off immediately to Toledo, traditionally famous for its sword making, spending a few hours there visiting various churches, the Alcazar, and a traditional sword shop.

Then on to Avila, famous as the home of the great St Teresa of Avila. Avila is the best-preserved example of a fortified Medieval city in the world and is truly magnificent. There we witnessed a beautiful Procession through the streets of Avila, with a float of Our Lord Crucified and the Sorrowful Mother, attended Palm Sunday Mass in the Avila Cathedral, and went to all the sites connected with St Teresa.

Leaving on Easter Monday morning, we went to Burgos, to see the magnificent Gothic styled Burgos Cathedral, wherein lies El Cid, one of Spain’s most famous heroes.

Our Lady of Covadonga in the Holy Cave.
Group photo by the Statue of Don Pelayo, leader of the Catholic army. In the centre front is Dominic from South Africa.
The Cathedral at Covadonga

Tuesday morning found us on our way to Covadonga, the birthplace of the great Spanish Reconquista, the 700-year long war to rid Catholic Spain from the Moslems who had invaded and taken control in 711. It was truly a special place, and a personal highlight of the trip. The sense of peace and grace one senses in that blessed place is indescribable and truly remarkable. We spent two nights there, climbed a nearby peak to get a fantastic view of Covadonga from above, experienced the local cuisine, and prayed the Little Office of Our Lady in the cave of Covadonga, in front of the beautiful statue of Our Lady of Covadonga.

On Holy Thursday we left Covadonga and set off on the 6-hour journey to Porto, Portugal, where we started the Camino! Everyone was very excited to start walking, and I do not think anyone slept very well that night. We started before sunup on Good Friday, and entrusting ourselves to Our Lord, Our Lady, and St James, we set off on our nine day, 230km hike.

These beautiful staffs were handmade for the pilgrims. They were measured to fit the individual and have hand carved quotes that were chosen by each person.
It can be a curiosity for others to see a group of Catholics venerate relics of saints kept in a museum display or pray in a church considered more historic rather than sacred. Sometimes the simple truths are the ones we most easily forget.
In Oviedo, to the left of the cathedral's main altar, is a niche bearing a large container made of stone. There is no sign or inscription, but this is a relic of the Holy Land. It is one of the water jars from the wedding feast at Cana which Our Lord used to turn water into wine.

We spent the morning walking out of the city and into the countryside, all the time following the beautiful Portuguese coastline north of Porto. We started on a small detour of the main trail, so by mid-morning we arrived on the official main trail heading up from Lisbon to Santiago. There we officially started our Camino by reading our 10 Commandments of the Camino, which were the rules that we would abide by as pilgrims over the next nine days. We also read out all our official intentions, primarily reparation for the sin of abortion in the world, as well as many other prayers, hopes, and intentions we were bringing with us from our various homelands, as well as those of the individual pilgrims on the trail.

The sixth day of Camino ended in Pontevedra, where we visited the Convento de San Francisco. The Franciscan's vow of poverty was seen as a way of self-perfection. He made sacrifices regarding those things that pertained to his person, but looked towards enrichment when it came to the question of giving homage and worship to God. The sanctuary here reflects this in its Gothic beauty. Though there is something that seems to be missing. Where the statue of St. Francis now stands, there once would have been a beautiful high altar.
We walked to the very top of the hill where the preaching spot of St. James is found. Below, you can see the town of Padron. We send it a few staircases, and then a few more, and then a few more. Abstracting from the physical discomforts of the climb, it is fitting for such a place to be found on high. To think that St. James chose to ascend this hill to preach without "human respect" is an example of what spirit we should have to proclaim the truth in a pagan world.
The Cruceiro de Santiaguiño do Monte stands above the piles of rocks on which St. James stood to preach. In a nearby grotto, St. James hid from persecution. After we prayed here, each pilgrim climbed the rocks and gave the statue of St. James an "abrazo."
A Bench and a Berm The pilgrims look out upon the road to Redondela after conquering the final hill of the day.
We woke up to a path of stones surrounded by fields of gold and purple flowers celebrating the Resurrection.
The pilgrims sang the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The next nine days on the trail were really meaningful and very blessed. We visited churches, passed through old towns, travelled across the bright sunny Portuguese countryside, crossed the border back into Spain, and learned bits of Portuguese and Spanish. We suffered in the early spring heat and hiked for two days in the rain and cold. We attended Easter Sunday Mass in a church overflowing with Portuguese Faithful. We enjoyed the immense hospitality of the Portuguese who treated us like long-time friends the moment we appeared and were invited to join a house blessing ceremony on Easter Monday, being treated to food and drink at the same time.

We climbed up mountains, we climbed down mountains, crossed rivers and walked through forests, and hiked an average of 25km per day. Most important of all, we spent each day in prayer, contemplation, and good conversation. We stopped at every road-side shrine to say an Ave Maria or a Salve Regina. We entered every church on the way to visit the Blessed Sacrament and say some prayers. In many churches we sang the Salve Regina, much to the surprise and delight of locals and fellow pilgrims alike. And above all, we kept our focus on the true meaning of the Camino, that we were doing a pilgrimage in reparation for sin and for the betterment of our souls.

For the first time, the pilgrims glimpse the distant steeples of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. After over a week of walking, it was a sight to behold.
We had finished nine full days. Nine days of walking, praying, and sacrificing. What an immense grace to arrive at Santiago de Compostela! After this, we entered to visit the relics of St. James to pray for your intentions. And before leaving the Cathedral, we gave St. James's statue the traditional abrazo.

We arrived in Santiago on Saturday, 11 April 2026. We had seen the steeples of the Cathedral of Santiago from several kilometres away earlier in the day, so the anticipation and excitement was at an all-time high as we finally made it into the city, wending our way through the crowded, narrow streets toward the steeples we could see rising up above the other buildings. It was a most incredible feeling to finally arrive in the square in front of the Cathedral, to look up at the impressive facade, and to think back on all nine days of hiking that it took to get here. It was absolutely phenomenal!

A close up of the main statue of St. James. Made in the Spanish Baroque style, It originally did not have a halo. It was the custom that when pilgrims would embrace St. James, they would also place their own hat on his head. The halo was only added in recent years.
In the same spirit, the sanctuary also has three central statues of St. James: as the apostle, as a pilgrim, and as Matamoros (atop the canopy held by four massive angels).
The intentions sent with the pilgrimage were all put in the hands of St. James. We kept these intentions in our prayers and sacrifices throughout the trip, but especially here!

After dropping our backpacks at our accommodation, we proceeded straight to the Cathedral to visit St James and give him the traditional “abrazo,” where pilgrims climb up behind the statue and give St James a hug. We also went below the main altar where the remains of St James are kept and placed our intentions there. I placed there all the intentions of the SANOL supporters who had sent intentions to be taken along and said a prayer to St James that he would answer the prayers, hopes, and pleas of our Nation, and bountifully bless all those who requested his intercession. We spent two days in Santiago, visiting the Cathedral multiple times and exploring the city.

With a little regret we left early on Monday morning with a 6-hour trip ahead of us to the airport where we would all split up once more and go our different ways back to our respective homes across the globe.

At the Franciscan monastery in Santiago de Compostela, we obtained our "Franciscan Compostela" marking in another way the end of our Camino. According to tradition, St. Francis actually made the Camino himself. Franciscans, and any Catholic from around the world, can receive this document after having walked the Camino in the footsteps of Saint Francis.
One does not visit the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela without noticing the Bota Fumeiro hanging from the ceiling. They never publicize the times that this massive thurible is used, but if you befriend one of these men, he might just tell what you are looking to find out.

We were very fortunate to have the privilege of doing the Camino de Santiago. It was a really epic journey through time, and almost a ‘refresher course,’ on what it means to be Catholic and just what a privilege it is to have the Faith. It was highly beneficial to all of us, psychologically, physically, and most important of all, spiritually. We all departed Spain with our spiritual ‘batteries’ recharged and ready to continue the fight for the preservation of Christian Civilization and the Glory of God!

I would like to specially thank everyone who donated toward this journey and helped make it possible. Your support is greatly appreciated, and I prayed a daily Rosary on the Camino especially for your intentions, and that Our Lady would bless you immensely.

Please keep the works of SANOL in your prayers, that we may continue in God’s service to bring the Reign of Christ on our troubled world.

Viva Cristo Rey!

Dominic Tuffin.

Watch a short video below and listen to the prayers and chants the pilgrims sang along the way at various churches and shrines. 

Saint Bonaventure

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Patron Saint of Bowel Disorders

Feast Day 15 July

 

St. Bonaventure, “The Seraphic Doctor”, was born Giovanni di Fidanza in the vicinity of Viterbo, Tuscany in 1221. Nothing is known of his childhood except the name of his parents: Giovanni di Fidanza and Maria Fidella.

Legend has it that when seriously ill as a child, his mother took him to St. Francis of Assisi. As the saint prayed over him, he was shown the infant’s future spiritual greatness and exclaimed, “O, buona ventura!” O good fortune!”

He entered the Franciscan Order at age twenty-two and after taking his vows, was sent to Paris to study under the great Alexander Hale, and then John de la Rochelle.

In Paris he became close friends with St. Thomas Aquinas, and both received their doctorate at the same time. Like St. Thomas, Bonaventure was held in high esteem by King St. Louis IX.

Already while in Paris he was a great preacher and discourser and wrote Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, a work covering the whole field of scholastic theology.

He wrote extensively on philosophy and theology throughout his life.

It is said of St. Bonaventure that he united in himself two elements: tender piety and profound learning, from whence proceeded all that is most noble, sublime, great and beautiful in the Middle Ages.

At thirty-five Bonaventure was chosen General of the Franciscans, and restored peace in the place of disturbances generated by internal dissensions. While some friars were for an inflexible severity, others were for a more relaxed rule.

The saint steered the wise road of balance, reforming and restoring the spirit of his order and writing a life of St. Francis. It is said that St. Thomas Aquinas once entered Bonaventure’s cell while he was writing this biography and found him in ecstasy, “Let’s leave a saint to write about a saint,” said the Angelic Doctor.

In 1265, Pope Clement IV nominated Bonaventure to the archbishopric of York, which the saint humbly turned down to the acquiescence of the Pope.

But in 1273 Pope Gregory X elevated him to ecclesiastical dignity, and made him Cardinal, Bishop of Albano. At the Council of Lyons, he was the Pope’s right hand in preparing the matters to be addressed. Before the council began, St. Bonaventure abdicated the office of minister general of his order.

The Council of Lyons was instrumental in the effective reunion of the Greeks, a union desired by Emperor Michael Palaeologus. St. Thomas died on the way to this council, and St. Bonaventure was the council’s outstanding figure. But amidst his triumph, Bonaventure died rather suddenly during the night of July 14-15. According to the chronicle of his secretary, Peregrinus of Bologna, discovered in 1905, Bonaventure was poisoned.

He was canonized in 1482 and declared Doctor of the Church in 1588.

St Augustine Zhao Rong

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One of 120 Chinese Martyrs canonized in 2000

Feast Day 9 July 

 

Augustine Zhao Rong, is one of a group of 120 Catholics, among many more who were martyred between the years 1648 and 1930 in China.

Having come to China through Syria in the seventh century, down through the centuries Christianity has in turn thrived or gone into hiding, contingent upon the relations of China with the outside world.

Of the 120 martyrs mentioned above, eighty-seven were Chinese, ranging in age from nine to seventy-two, and four of them were priests. Thirty-three were foreign-born, mostly priests or women religious. Though the missionaries and religious tried to distance themselves from foreign policies, the Chinese government did not differentiate and saw them all as westerners.

The martyrdoms of China are most moving, each person having died heroically though many of them suffered torture and cruel deaths. Fr Francis Li, grandson of a Chinese martyr, describes his grandfather going to his death joyfully saying to his brother and son, “Let’s go, we are going to heaven today!”

Zhao Rong was a bailiff of a county jail. During the persecution of 1772, he was moved by the words of Fr Martinus Moye to his fellow Catholic prisoners, and, ultimately converted. He later became a priest, and when in 1815 another persecution broke out, he was arrested and tortured, and being aged, died of the ill treatment.

The group of 120 martyrs celebrate today headed by St Augustine Zhao Rong was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 1 October 2000.

Saint Withburga

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Founded a Monastery at Dereham in Norfolk

Feast July 8

 

Withburga was the youngest of the four daughters of King Onna of East Anglia, a devout Christian ruler. All of his daughters and one son are canonized.

Onna was killed in battle against Penda of Mercia, and after her father’s death Withburga went to Dereham in Norfolk where she gathered a few young girls and started a small convent.

She eventually built a church, and the story goes that not having much nourishment to give to the workers, Our Lady appeared to her telling her to send two nuns to the stream where they would find two does that could be milked.

And so the nuns had regular milk to add to their daily sustenance. As news of this marvel spread, people began to flock to the convent to the point that a leader in Dereham became jealous of Withburga’s popularity. He set out on his horse to kill the does, but the horse threw him and he broke his neck. This story is depicted on a large sign in the town of Dereham.

Withburga died on 17 March 743 shortly after the completion of the church. Fifty years later, her body was found perfectly incorrupt.

In 974, on being moved to Ely near the bodies of her two sisters, it was still found whole and pliable. The people of Dereham tried to bring their saint back, but being unsuccessful, found at their return that a well had sprung in the empty tomb of Withburga.

They took it as a sign from their saint for their consolation. This spring has never dried up.

St Pier Giorgio Frassati

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Feast Day: 4 July

Patron of Students, Young Catholics, Mountaineers, Youth groups

 

Pier Giorgio was born on 6 April 1901 in Turin, Italy, of a prominent family. His father, an agnostic, owned the liberal newspaper, La Stampa, served in the Italian Senate and later became an ambassador to Germany.

Of a different frame of mind and stance of soul than that of his father, young Pier Giorgio was deeply spiritual. The Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary were the two devotions around which revolved his prayer life, a life he never hesitated to share with his friends.

While pursuing a mining engineering degree, he became involved in Catholic youth groups, the Apostleship of Prayer, Catholic Action and was a Dominican Tertiary. He helped establish the paper Momento based on Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical, Rerum Novarum. In 1918, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and spent much of his time helping the poor by sharing with them his allowance and even the clothes off his back.

Pier Giorgio was strongly anti-communist and anti-fascist and never hid his political views. In a Church-organized demonstration in Rome he rescued their banner from the hands of the police and, holding it high, used the pole to ward off blows. Arrested with the demonstrators, he refused special treatment because of his father’s position, and was jailed along with his friends.

On another occasion, when a group of fascists broke into his family home, he beat them off single-handedly, chasing them down the street.

The young man loved art and music, and often frequented the theatre, the opera and museums. One of his favourite sports was mountain climbing, and he often organized expeditions with his friends, never failing to lead them to Mass or in the Rosary.

Just before receiving his engineering degree, Pier Giorgio contracted poliomyelitis, possibly caught from the sick he tended. After six days of terrible and intense suffering, the holy young man died on 4 July 1925.

His funeral was a triumph. His family was amazed as throngs of the poor and needy of the city lined the streets, many of whom in turn were surprised to realize that their “angel of mercy” was the heir to the influential Frassati family.

When on 20 May 1990 Pope John Paul II beatified Pier Giorgio, he called him the “Man of the Eight Beatitudes.”

Pope Leo XIV canonized Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati on 7 September 2025.

Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i

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Patron Saint of People with Leprosy

Feast May 10

 

St. Damien is known as the Leper Priest and the Hero of Moloka’i. Born in Tremelo in Belgium on 3 January 1840, he was son of a farmer and his wife.

He lived a devout life and in 1860 obtained permission to join the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Although born Jozef De Veuster, the young brother took the name Damien in religious life. In 1864, in answer to his prayers to St. Francis Xavier, he was sent as a missionary to Honolulu, Hawaii. Here he applied himself to diligent study to compensate for his lack of an early education, and he was ordained to the sacred priesthood on May 21.

For the next nine years Fr. Damien worked in various missions throughout Hawaii.

Wishing to do more to help God’s suffering people, Fr. Damien volunteered as a missionary priest to the leper community on the island of Moloka’i. His offer was accepted by Bishop Louis Désiré Maigret, the Vicar Apostolic of Honolulu and on 10 May 1873 Damien was formerly presented by the bishop to the flock of his new mission.

Fr. Damien’s first course of action was to build a church for the inhabitants of the colony of Moloka’i and to establish the Parish of St. Philomena. He was not just an ordinary parish priest to his large flock, he went out “into the highways and byways,” dressing ulcers, building proper homes and furniture for his parishioners, making coffins and digging graves. “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all for Jesus Christ,” he wrote of himself to his brother.

Under his leadership, working farms were organized, basic laws enforced, and hospitals, schools and orphanages established, for Fr. Damien had a particular concern and care for the children of his mission.

Contracting leprosy himself in 1885, Fr. Damien continued to work vigorously to build as many homes as he could and made plans for the continuation of the programs he had established for after he was gone.

The Hero of Moloka’i died of leprosy in the early morning of 15 April 1889, at the age of 49.

After his funeral Mass at St. Philomena’s the next day, the whole leper colony of Moloka’i followed the funeral cortège to the cemetery where Damien was laid to rest under the same pandanus tree where he had slept upon his arrival at the mission.

St. Damien of Moloka’i was canonized on 11 October 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI who held the Leper Priest up as one who “teaches us to choose the good fights, not those that lead to division, but those that gather us together in unity.”

Saint Stephen Harding

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Harding

St Stephen Harding

One of the Founders of the Cistercian Order

Feast April 17

Stephen Harding was an Englishman of an honourable family, and heir to a large estate. Born in Dorset, he was educated at the monastery of Sherborne and spoke English, Norman, French and Latin.

Desirous of seeking a more perfect way of Christian perfection, he, with a devout companion, travelled into Scotland and afterwards to Paris and to Rome. On their return journey, the two travellers chanced upon a collection of huts in the forest of Molesme in Burgundy, where monks lived in great austerity. Struck by their way of life and finding kindred spirits in Robert the Abbot, and Alberic the Prior, he bid his friend goodbye and threw in his lot with the monks.

After some years, finding that religious fervour had waned considerably, Stephen, Robert, Alberic and others went to Lyons and with the support of Bishop Hugh struck a new foundation in the forest of Citeaux sponsored by Rainald, Lord of Beaune, and Odo, Duke of Burgundy.

Later Robert returned to his monks of Molesme who reclaimed him as their abbot, and upon the death of Alberic, in 1109, Stephen succeeded him as Abbot of Citeaux.

He immediately instituted such austere measures to keep the spirit of the world out that he alienated the support of many who had helped to establish the abbey.

Novices ceased applying, and to make matters worse, a mysterious disease decimated his monks to the point that even Stephen’s stout heart began to quiver wondering if he were really doing God’s will.

God answered him dramatically when thirty noblemen knocked at the abbey’s door seeking admittance. They were headed by young St Bernard who in his zeal had convinced his brothers, uncles and a number of his acquaintances to give up the world with him.

Increasing numbers called for additional foundations and the first two were made at Morimond and Clairvaux. To the general surprise, Stephen appointed twenty-four-year-old Bernard as Abbot of Clairvaux. When nine abbeys had sprung from Citeaux, Stephen drew up the statutes of his Charter of Charity which officially organised the Cistercians into an order.

Stephen Harding died in 1134, advanced in age and nearly blind, and having served as Abbot of Cîteaux for twenty-five years.

Saint Michael Febres Cordero

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Patron Saint of Brothers of the Christian Schools, Ecuador, Teachers & Writers

Feast February 9

Michael was born in Cuenca, Ecuador in 1854 to a wealthy family. From birth he had a deformity that disabled him and prevented him from walking.

One day, as he sat in his wheelchair, he saw a rose in the garden. Above the flowers, he saw a beautiful lady wearing a white and blue dress, calling his name. His family, who could see nothing other than the rose, were astonished when he proceeded to get up and walk. From then on, Michel spoke with Our Lady and Jesus on a regular basis.

When the De LaSalle Brothers arrived in Ecuador in 1863 and set up a seminary, Michael enrolled, though his parents objected to his plans to become a lay brother rather than a priest.

Instead, they sent him to the seminary where his father taught, but within a few months he became seriously ill and had to return home.

His mother finally agreed to let him become a lay brother. In 1868, Michael entered the order of the De LaSalle Brothers and a year later was assigned to the Beaterio, a congregation of lay sisters dedicated to prayer and charitable work in Quito, where he specialized in preparing children for their First Communion for the next 26 years.

Transferred to Spain to assist in the translation of sacred documents, he caught a cold that developed into pneumonia, and he died on 9 February 1910. His body was returned to Ecuador, and his tomb in Quito soon became a shrine and place of pilgrimage.

The Ecuadorian government issued stamps bearing his likeness and erected a bronze and marble monument to him in Quito’s central park.

Upon the statue’s dedication in June 1965, there was a huge parade in which 30 000 school children participated.

Pope St Damasus I

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Patron Saint of Archaeologists and Against Fever

Feast 11 December 

Damasus is said to have been of Spanish origins, though he was born in Rome. Never married, he was a deacon until the death of Pope Liberius in 366 when his name was put forth for bishop of Rome.

Although his nomination was violently opposed, he was elected. As late as 378 he still had to clear himself of malicious slanders levelled at him by the opposition. He did so before Emperor Gratian and the Roman Synod.

Pope Damasus had to fight many heresies, but in 380 he had the satisfaction of seeing Theodosius I of the East and Gratian of the West proclaim Christianity, as professed by the bishops of Rome and Alexandria, the religion of the Roman State.

Gratian, on the petition of the Christian Senators, and with the support of the Pope, had the altar of Victory removed from the senate. The young Emperor also laid aside the title of “Pontifex-Maximus” bestowing it upon Pope Damasus I, who became the first Pope in history to hold this title of “Supreme Pontiff.”

St. Damasus is also remembered for his special care of the relics of the martyrs and of the catacombs of Rome that housed those relics.

St Jerome was appointed secretary to St Damasus in 382.

Dying on 11 December 384, he was at first laid to rest in the cemetery of St. Callixtus. He had an epitaph placed on his tomb which ends thus:

I, Damasus, wished to be buried here, but I feared to offend the ashes of these holy ones.

Our Lady of Ransom

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Our Lady of Ransom is also known as Our Lady of Mercy

Feast September 24

St. Peter Nolasco was born in 1189, at Mas-des-Saintes-Puelles, France.

Joining Simon de Montfort’s army, then attacking the Albigenses, he was appointed tutor to the young king, James of Aragon, who had succeeded to the throne after the death of his father, Pedro II, killed at the battle of Muret.

St. Peter Nolasco followed his pupil to the capital, Barcelona, in 1215.

Since 1192, in that great city, certain noblemen had formed a confraternity for the purpose of caring for the sick in hospitals, and also for rescuing Christian captives from the Moors.

They called themselves “Mercedarians.”

Saint Peter Nolasco

The Order of the Mercedarians

Our Lady appeared to St. Peter Nolasco in a vision asking him to found an order especially devoted to the ransom of captives, and this he did in 1218.

His confessor, St. Raymond of Pennafort, the canon of Barcelona, encouraged and assisted him in this project; and King James also extended his protection.

The noblemen already referred to were the first monks of the order, and their headquarters was the convent St. Eulalie of Barcelona, erected in 1232.

They had both religious in holy orders, and lay monks or knights; the choir monks were clothed in tunic, scapular, and cape of white. These religious followed the rule drawn up for them by St Raymond of Pennafort.

The order was approved, first by Honorius III and then by Gregory IX (1230), the latter, at the request of St Raymond Nonnatus presented by St Peter Nolasco, granted a Bull of confirmation and prescribed the Rule of St. Augustine, the former rule now forming the constitutions (1235).

St. Peter was the first superior, with the title of Commander-General; he also filled the office of Ransomer, a title given to the monk sent into the lands subject to the Moors to arrange for the ransom of prisoners.

The holy founder died in 1256, seven years after having resigned his superiorship; he was succeeded by Guillaume Le Bas.

Foundation of the Order of Mercy, part of the centre altarpiece of the Cathedral of Barcelona.

Growing Pains as the Order Expands

The development of the order was immediate and widespread throughout France, England, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. As the Moors were driven back, new convents of Mercy were established. Houses were founded at Montpelier, Perpignan, Toulouse, and Vich.

The great number of houses, however, had a weakening effect on the uniformity of observance of the rule. To correct this, Bernard de Saint-Romain, the third commander general (1271), codified the decisions of the general chapters.

In the fourteenth century, disputes arose from the rivalry between the convents of Barcelona and Puy, and from the discord between the priests and knights, which ended in the latter’s suppression, disturbed the peace of the order.

Christopher Columbus took some members of the Order of Mercy with him to America, where they founded a great many convents in Latin America, throughout Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. These formed no less than eight provinces, whereas they only had three in Spain and one in France. This order took a very active part in the conversion of the Indians.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century Father Gonzales, who had made his profession in the convent of Olmedo in 1573, conceived the idea of a reform, at that time necessary.

The commander-general, Alfonso de Montoy, at first supported this scheme, but ended by opposing it. In this undertaking, Gonzales was assisted by the Countess of Castellan, who obtained for him the necessary authorization from Clement VIII, and presented him with three convents for the reformed monks (at Viso, Diocese of Seville; Almoragha, Diocese of Cadiz; Ribas).

The reform was confirmed at the provincial chapter of Guadelajara in 1603. Father Gonzales took the name of John Baptist of the Blessed Sacrament, and died at Madrid in 1618. Paul V approved his reform in 1606; in 1621 Gregory XV declared it independent of the monks of the Great Observance. Their convents formed two provinces, with houses at Madrid, Salamanca, Seville, and Alcalá, with a few foundations in Sicily.

Mercedarian Fathers ransoming Christian captives from the Muslims.
La Mercè Basilica, in Barcelona, where her incorrupt body reposes on the right side of the altar.

A Second Order Springs from the First

Father Antoine Velasco founded a convent of nuns of Our Lady of Mercy at Seville in 1568, of which the first superioress was Blessed Ann of the Cross. This foundation had been authorized by Pius V. The reformed branch also established houses of barefooted nuns, or Nuns of the Recollection, at Lura, Madrid, Santiago de Castile, Fuentes, Thoro, and elsewhere.

The female tertiaries go back to the very beginning of the order (1265). Two widows of Barcelona, Isabel Berti and Eulalie Peins, whose confessor was Blessed Bernard of Corbario, prior of the convent there, were the foundresses.

They were joined by several companions, among them St. Mary of Succour (1281), the first superior of the community. Blessed Mary Anne of Jesus (1624) founded another community of tertiaries, under the jurisdiction of the reformed branch.

The Order of Mercy of late years has much decreased in membership. The restoration of the reformed convent at Thoro, Diocese of Zamora, Spain, is worthy of note (1888).

The Mercedarian Friars are organized into provinces, vicariates and delegations. At present, there are nine provinces throughout the world, spanning four continents, and twenty-two countries, hosting a total of approximately 800 friars in solemn vows.

Mercedarias Descalzas Convent in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Members of the Order

Besides the founder, St. Peter Nolasco, the following illustrious members of the order should be mentioned:

  • St. Raymond Nonnatus (d. 1240), the most famous of the monks who gave themselves up to the work of ransoming captives;
  • Blessed Bernard of Corbario, already mentioned;
  • St. Peter Paschal, Bishop of Jaen, who devoted all his energies to the ransom of captives and the conversion of the Musselmans, martyred in 1300;
  • St. Raymond was a cardinal, as also were Juan de Luto and Father de Salazar.

It is unnecessary to enumerate the archbishops and bishops. Writers were numerous, especially in Spain and Latin America in the seventeenth century. To mention only a few:

  • Alfonso Henriquez de Almendaris, Bishop of Cuba, who founded a college for his order at Seville, and from whom Philip III received an interesting report on the spiritual and temporal condition of his diocese in 1623;
  • Alfonso de Monroy, who drew up the constitutions of the reform, and who was a bishop in America; Alfonso Ramón, theologian, preacher, and annalist of his order;
  • Alfonso Velásquez de Miranda (1661), who took a considerable part in political affairs; Fernando de Orio, general of the order, who translated and learnedly commented on Tertullian’s treatise “De Poenitentia”;
  • Fernando de Santiago (1639), one of the favourite preachers of his time; Francisco Henríquez; Francisco de Santa Maria;
  • Francisco Zumel; Gabriel de Adarzo (1674), theologian, preacher, and statesman;
  • Gabreil Tellez (1650), dramatic author;
  • Gaspar de Torrez, Bishop of the Canary Islands;
  • Pedro de Ona, whom Philip III sent on important missions both in America and in the Kingdom of Naples.
Fr. Francisco Zumel Painting by Francisco de Zurbarán

[Note: Original article taken from : Our Lady of Ransom – https://nobility.org/2013/09/our-lady-of-mercy/ – SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 | The most current historical dates and facts can be found in the Mercedarian history book, available here: http://orderofmercy.org/charis…]

Header Image: Our Lady of Mercy, General of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces. This statue is in Quito, Ecuador.