Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Ransom and of Our Lady of Walsingham.
Two years ago I was in London, watching with a fine young priest of the Anglican Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham the episcopal consecration and installation of the new Bishop of Portsmouth, Most. Rev. Philip Egan. At the end of the rite, Bp. Egan gave a fine reflection. Tune in at about 2:12 in the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brh06hu49os&feature=player_embedded
And I would like to remind you that the Catholic artist Daniel Mitsui (who is still playing the hospital bills for his little daughter) has a beautiful version of Our Lady of Walsingham.
By the way… I love the Collect for Our Lady of Ransom.
Who wants to take a crack at it?
Deus, qui per gloriosissimam Filii tui Matrem ad liberandos Christifideles a potestate paganorum nova Ecclesiam tuam prole amplificare dignatus es: praesta quaesumus; ut, quam pie veneramur tanti operis institutricem, eius pariter meritis et intercessione a peccatis omnibus, et captivitate daemonis liberemur.
Given that there is rising up a force of horrendous evil, flying the black flag of Islamism, and that they have captives, and that they are BEHEADING captives, as they did again today to a poor man from France, say a prayer to Our Lady of Ransom for the protection of all who are in danger of their very lives from the “Religion of Peace”.
O God, Who through the most glorious Mother of Your Son, have deigned to amplify Your Church by a new offspring to liberate Christians from the power of the pagans: grant, we ask, that by both the merits and intercession of her whom we piously venerate as the foundress of so great a work, we may be liberated from all sins and from the captivity of the demon.
— Interesting, the singular “daemonis,” isn’t it? Is it referring to Satan (as in, THE Demon), or another more particular one? I would have expected “daemonum” otherwise. Anyone’s wisdom would be appreciated.
O God, who through the most glorious Mother of your Son deigned to enlarge your Church with a new offspring for saving the Faithful from the power of the pagans: grant we beseech, that we, as we piously venerate the foundress of so great a work, might be freed by her merits and intercession equally from all sins and the captivity of the Devil.
“… the new Bishop of Portsmouth, Most. Rev. Philip Egan”
Note to Fr. Z: Once again, a reminder that bishops in England are “Right Reverend”, not “Most Reverend”. In England, only archbishops are Most Reverend. Bishop Egan is the “Right Rev. Philip Egan”.
Today, in my wife’s native Dominican Republic, the feast of Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes is celebrated as a national public holiday, in the civil sphere, and as a solemnity by the local Church (as the country is under Our Lady’s patronage under this title). I believe it may actually be a holy day of obligation as a matter of particular law.
The collect speaks of “new offspring”, referring, presumably, to the Mercedarian friars, an order not found, I think, outside the Hispanosphere. In England Our Lady of Ransom is more associated with restoring the Catholic heritage of pre-reformation days.
Somewhat tangential: my son’s middle name is Ransom, taken after the first name of an ancestor from the deep South who was a Corporal on Lee’s staff.
Guess those southern Protestants were thinking of Christ Our Ransom, however.
Father thank you for mentioning Our Lady of Ransom. She wishes to be asked for help under this title against the Moors. At the time she appeared to offer assistance, the Moors were terrorizing lands and coasts, killing the innocent or carrying off prisoners for enslavement or concubinage. The methods and intent of Islam has not changed, as compared to the brutal history of those times.
Also known as Our Lady of Mercy, the Mercedarian order which honors her would either raise money to ransom captives or exchanges themselves for the freedom of others. Yes, their work as referred to in the Collect, “honor her as the foundress of so great a work” is relevant.
As for that Collect, I cheated and looked it up in my missal. Being too impatient – I wanted to be sure I understood what the Latin said. “…delivered from all our sins and from the bondage of the evil one” looks accurate to me. Is it?
Satan (as “THE Demon”) is probably what is meant by “daemonis” in this context. In other contexts, though, it would be legitimate to refer to the pagan god Allah as a demon, since the gods of the Gentiles are devils.
Legisperitus:
Allah is the Arabic word for God. Muslims did not invent the term, they appropriated it. Christians, including Catholics, worship God as “Allah” – the Triune Allah – and have done so since before Islam even existed.
vetusta ecclesia, the Mercedarians are more and more active in the United States. I believe they are based in Philadelphia.
“O God, Who for the delivery of Christians from pagan enslavement wast pleased by means of the most glorious Mother of Thy Son to enrich Thy Church with a new family: grant, we pray, that we who devoutly honour the institution of this her great work may likewise, by her merits and intercession, be freed from all our sins and the bondage of Satan.”