Church celebrates Our Lady of Mercy

The Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Mercy on September 24. This Marian devotion originated in 13th-century Barcelona and is closely linked to the Mercedari order.

The order was founded by St. Peter Nolasco following a vision of the Virgin Mary. According to tradition, the Virgin encouraged Nolasco to establish a religious order dedicated to freeing Christians held in slavery. While the Spanish National Historical Archive recognizes August 10, 1218, as the conventional date of the order's foundation in Barcelona, Pope Gregory IX officially approved the order on January 17, 1235.