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Our Lady of Mercy
(Our Lady of Ransom)
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The Blessed Virgin appeared in 1218 in separate visions to St. Peter Nolasco, St.
Raymund of Penafort, and James, king of Aragon, asking them to found a religious order dedicated to
freeing Christian captives from the barbarous Saracens, who at that time held a great part of
Spain. The Mercedarians' pious work spread everywhere and produced heroes of charity who
collected alms for the ransom of Christians, and who often gave themselves up in exchange for
Christian prisoners.
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In this one-of-a-kind design, the beads of this decima chaplet evoke the
twin rays of light emerging from the Divine Mercy image of Jesus painted my Sr. Faustina, a Sister of
Our Lady of Mercy. The Aves are crystal/ruby cathedral glass, crowned with bronze. The
Pater bead is handmade Venetian lampwork, with white blossoms and gold leaf layered onto ruby
glass. The decima is completed with a bronze medal of Our Lady of Mercy, cast from an
antique.
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See our
catalog
for available rosaries and chaplets.
Below are examples of previous designs.
Write
us to inquire about a custom design!
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n this one-of-a-kind design, meadow colors offer a bouquet to Our Lady:
7mm Swarovski crystals of Tanzanite, and a sterling-capped lampwork bead reminiscent of summery field
flowers. The decima is completed with a bronze medal of Our Lady of Mercy, cast
from an antique.
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In this one-of-a-kind design, the traditional black beads of the Marian order have been replaced with
8mm Swarovski crystals of Capri AB, and a sterling-capped lampwork bead of celestial blues. The decima
is completed with a sterling medal of Our Lady of Mercy, cast from an antique.
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Prayers
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Our Lady of Mercy
Mother of Mercy! Virgin Mary blest
Within whose chaste, young bosom hearts find peace
And finding, know the real content of Rest;
The utter fullness that need never cease
Once one has known the safety of this breast;
Once and then many times when one has erred
And seeks mongst men a pity in the face;
An understanding in the stead of squared
Contempt blunt-meted out from every place.
To whom, then, can we turn and quickly go
Assured of mercy and the mother-strength
To lift us up! To whom, then, can we show
The contrite heart; the firm resolve at length
To keep our equilibrium of soul?
.... oh, foolish question uttered by all men
While Mary's heart-pulse throbs to be their goal
And bleeds its mercy ever and again!
Peg Du Bal
Robert, Cyril. Mary Immaculate: God's Mother and Mine.
Poughkeepsie, New York: Marist Press, 1946.
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Mother of Mercy
I walked in darkness, yet felt no fear;
For through the void I knew her near.
She bound my wounds that lightless day
And cooled my fever midst battle's fray.
Not only I have seen her there,
But many others through painful tear
Have felt her tender, soothing, healing hand,
Looked long and clearly into eyes that understand
The pain and anguish of death to come,
For man did this to her only Son.
F.W. Heinkle
Robert, Cyril. Mary Immaculate: God's Mother and Mine.
Poughkeepsie, New York: Marist Press, 1946.
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As the Mother of Jesus, our Merciful Redeemer, Our Lady is rightly named Mother of
Mercy.
The origin of this feast day dates back to the Middle Ages and the foundation of the Order of Our Lady
of Mercy after Our Blessed Mother appeared to a young nobleman in France. Responding to her appeal for
compassion and mercy for the men, women and children who were taken as prisoners from Europe to Africa
as slaves by the Moors, Saint Peter Nolasco set out to redeem these people. He and his companions
dedicated their lives and possessions to gathering alms to free them from their cruel captors. These
slaves would otherwise have been forced to deny their faith. Protecting the faith of the captives who
were persecuted because of their Christianity was the main objective of the heroic priests of Our Lady
of Mercy who even offered and gave their own lives as ransom when there was not enough money.
As their numbers grew, some of the priests extended their works of Mercy to include
missionary work. Traveling with Columbus on his expedition, one of their numbers made devotion to Our
Lady of Mercy the first Marian devotion in America! Their work now has been expanded to those exposed
to the dangers of denying their faith, the social, political and psychological forms of captivity in
today’s world. The mission is thus multiple: missions, parishes, education, prison and hospital
work.
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