Mercedarians

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(Order of Our Lady of Mercy).

A congregation of men founded in 1218 bySt. Peter Nolasco, born 1189, at Mas-des-Saintes-Puelles, Department of Aude,France. Joining Simon de Montfort's army, then attacking theAlbigenses, he was appointed tutor to the young king, James ofAragon, who had succeeded to the throne after the death of hisfather, Pedro II, killed at the battle of Muret. Peter Nolasco followed his pupil to his capital,Barcelona, in 1215. From the year 1192 certain noblemen of that city had formed a confraternity for the purpose of caring for the sick inhospitals, and also for rescuingChristian captives from theMoors. Peter Nolasco was requested by theBlessed Virgin in a vision to found an order especially devoted to the ransom of captives. 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 firstmonks of the order, and their headquarters was theconvent St. Eulalie of Barcelona, erected 1232. They had both religious in holy orders, and laymonks orknights; the choirmonks 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 byHonorius III and then byGregory IX (1230), the latter, at the request of St Raymond Nonnatus presented by St Peter Nolasco, granted aBull of confirmation and prescribed theRule 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 themonk sent into the lands subject to theMoors to arrange for the ransom ofprisoners. The holy founder died in 1256, seven years after having resigned his superiorship; he was succeeded by Guillaume Le Bas.

The development of the order was immediate and widespread throughoutFrance,England,Germany,Portugal, andSpain. As theMoors were driven back, newconvents of Mercy were established. Houses were founded at Montpelier,Perpignan,Toulouse, andVich. 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 theconvents of Barcelona and Puy, and from the discord between thepriests andknights, 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 manyconvents in Latin America, throughout Mexico,Cuba,Brazil,Peru,Chile, andEcuador. These formed no less than eight provinces, whereas they only had three inSpain and one inFrance. 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 theconvent of Olmedo in 1573, conceived theidea of a reform, at that timenecessary. 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 thenecessary authorization fromClement VIII, and presented him with threeconvents for the reformedmonks (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 theBlessed Sacrament, and died atMadrid in 1618.Paul V approved his reform in 1606; in 1621Gregory XV declared it independent of themonks of the Great Observance. Theirconvents formed two provinces, with houses atMadrid, Salamanca,Seville, and Alcalá, with a few foundations inSicily.

Father Antoine* Velasco founded aconvent ofnuns 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 byPius V. The reformed branch also established houses of barefootednuns, or Nuns of the Recollection, at Lura,Madrid, Santiago de Castile, Fuentes, Thoro, and elsewhere. Thefemale tertiaries go back to the very beginning of the order (1265). Twowidows of Barcelona, Isabel Berti and Eulalie Peins, whose confessor was Blessed Bernard of Corbario,prior of theconvent there, were the foundresses. They were joined by several companions, among them St. Mary of Succour (d. 31 Decemb., 1281), the first superior of the community. Blessed Mary Anne of Jesus (d. 1624) founded another community of tertiaries, under thejurisdiction of the reformed branch. The Order of Mercy of late years has much decreased in membership. The restoration of the reformedconvent at Thoro,Diocese of Zamora,Spain, is worthy of note (1888). At present the order has one province and one vice-province inEurope, and four provinces and two vice-provinces in America, with thirty-sevenconvents and five to six hundred members. The Mercedarianconvents are in Palermo;Spain; Venezuela (Caracas, Maracaibo);Peru (Lima);Chile (Santiago);Argentina (Cordova, Mendoza);Ecuador (Quito); and Uruguay. The Mercedarians ofCordova publish "Revista Mercedaria".

Besides the founder,St. Peter Nolasco, the following illustrious members of the order may be mentioned:St. Raymond Nonnatus (d. 1240), the most famous of themonks who gave themselves up to the work of ransoming captives; Blessed Bernard of Corbario, already mentioned; St. Peter Paschal,Bishop ofJaén, who devoted all his energies to the ransom of captives and the conversion of theMusselmans,martyred in 1300; St. Raymond was acardinal, as also were Juan de Luto and Father de Salazar. It is unnecessary to enumerate thearchbishops andbishops. Writers were numerous, especially inSpain and Latin America in the seventeenth century. To mention only a few: Alfonso Henriquez de Almendaris,Bishop ofCuba, who founded acollege for his order atSeville, and from whom Philip III received an interesting report on the spiritual and temporal condition of hisdiocese in 1623; Alfonso de Monroy, who drew up the constitutions of the reform, and who was abishop in America; Alfonso Ramón,theologian, preacher, andannalist 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 onTertullian'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;Gabriel Tellez (1650), dramatic author; Gaspar de Torrez,Bishop of theCanary Islands; Pedro de Ona, whom Philip III sent on important missions both in America and in theKingdom of Naples.

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