Our Lady of Mercy

The title “Merced” is first of all “mercy”. The Virgin is merciful and her children should be also. This means that we must come to her first of all with the desire to become like Jesus merciful.

It was during the time in which Muslims would plunder the coasts and would take Christians as slaves to Africa. The horrendous condition of these victims was indescribable. Many would loose their faith thinking that God has abandoned them. Peter Nolasco was a merchant. He decided to invest his fortune to free the greatest number of slaves possible. He would remember the phrase from the Gospel: “But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20).

In the year 1203 Peter Nolasco a lay man began the freeing of the captives in Venice, freeing with his own wealth 300 captives. He forms a group willing to place their goods in common and organizes expeditions to negotiate the freeing of the slaves. Their trade as merchants made this work easier. They would trade to rescue slaves. When their money ran out they formed confraternities to raise funds “almsgiving for the captives”. But there comes a time when all help is exhausted and Peter Nolasco intends to enter a religious order or retire to the dessert. He enters a stage of reflection and profound prayer.