marian
anniversaries september
September 24
Mare de Déu de la Mercè, Barcelona, Spain
In early August of 1218, St. Peter Nolasco, St. Raymund of Penafort, and James, King of Aragon, each had a vision of the Virgin Mary asking them to found a religious order devoted to freeing Christian captives from the Muslims, who still held much of Spain. The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy grew quickly, collecting alms for ransom and sometimes offering themselves in exchange for prisoners. The statue of the Mother of God of Mercy in Barcelona (right) dates from the 1300s. She became the city's patron saint after saving it from a plague of locusts in 1687. Before the counter-reformation, the Mercedarian Order celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Ransom on August 1, the date when she showed St. Peter Nolasco their white habit. The Vatican changed the date to September 24 when it extended the feast to the entire Church in 1696. Since Vatican II, Catholic observance of Our Lady of Mercy's day is limited to places and organizations that claim her as patron. Meanwhile, the Mercedarians have changed their mission to teaching and chaplaincy, and the Barcelona soccer team visits the Basilica of La Mercè after victories in thanks for her help. Her fiesta in Barcelona is a spectacular sequence of processions, dances, music, games, and fireworks.
Sources:
 | "Festa de la Mare de Déu de la Mercè," Arquebisbat de Barcelona, www.arqbcn.org/merce/index.htm |
| www.tiempodepoesia.org (photo) |
Also celebrated this date:
| Virgen de las Mercedes, La Vega, La Vega, Dominican Republic. Country's patronal fiesta. Pilgrimage to Holy Hill, procession, mass. |
| Virgen de la Caridad, San José de Minas, Pichincha, Ecuador (Virgin of Charity). Fiesta; mass, procession, & bullfighting on near Sunday. |
| Notre-Dame de la Merci, Fontanges, Cantal, Auvergne, France. Town's patronal feast day; monumental statue dedicated, 1876, atop Rocher Saint-Michel. |
| Notre Dame de Tamié, Plancherine, Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France. Abbey commemorates church dedication, 1730; main feast August 15. |
| Notre Dame de Liesse, Mézel, Alpes de Haute-Provence, France (Our Lady of Joy). Pilgrimage to chapel. |
| Panagia Mirtidiotissa, Kamari, Santorini, Thira, South Aegean, Greece (All-Holy Lady of the Myrtle). Feast day. |
| Virgen de Las Mercedes, Sansare, El Progreso, Guatemala (Virgin of Mercies). Municipality's patronal fiesta. |
| Madonna Pellegrina, Berzo Inferiore, Brescia, Lombardy, Italy (Pilgrim Madonna). Commemoration of apparition Sept. 24, 1616. |
| Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, Candarave, Candarave, Tacna, Peru. Patronal fiesta of Candarave Province. |
| Matka Boża Wspomożycielka Wiernych, Twardogóra, Oleśnica, Lower Silesia, Poland (Mother of God Help of Christians). Statue crowned, 1994. |
| Virgen de Allende, Ezcaray, La Rioja, Spain (Virgin from Beyond). Romería. |
| Virgen de los Valles, Burgo de Osma, Soria, Castile and Léon, Spain, Barcebalejo district. Public holiday. |
| Virgen de las Torres, Berlanga de Duero, Soria, Castile and Léon, Spain (Virgin of the Towers). Mass, offerings, procession, dance. |
| Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, San Fernando, Cádiz, Andalucia, Spain. Procession. |
| Virgen de la Antigua, Nechite, Válor, Granada, Andalucia, Spain. Mass, procession, games, sweets, fireworks, night-long dancing. |
| Nuestra Señora de los Reyes, La Frontera, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain (Our Lady of the Kings). Island of El Hierro's patronal fiesta. |
| Most Holy Theotokos of Kaplunivka, Kaplunivka, Krasnokutskyi, Kharkiv, Ukraine (Sept. 11 Julian) |
| Zimnenska Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, Zimne, Volodymyr-Volynsky, Volyn, Ukraine |
| Our Lady of Walsingham, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom. Catholic solemnity. |