Onward to Philadelphia!

I am heading out this weekend to visit my good friends the Mercedarians in Philadelphia.  This religious order was founded in 1218 by one Peter Nolasco, since sainted, with its principle aim the ransom of Christian captives of the Saracens.  A Spanish order, it was a product of a time when the struggle between the West and Islam was apparent and immediate.  The Reconquista was proceeding apace, but unfortunately many Christians suffered as captive slaves of the Islamic Almohads. 
As was common practice in those days, captives could be ransomed back for sums based on their station in life.  A king's ransom would be something like the entire GDP of whichever kingdom he represented.  Or not, I am no authority on international law of the 13th century.  It was a sad reality that kings and lords were not the only people taken captive in this long and bitter conflict.  Many captives were simply too poor to secure their release. 
What distinguished this order (and in my opinion gives it particular valor) is its peculiar Fourth Vow.  All religious orders take vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, with many opting for a Fourth Vow which is particular to their order and in line with their charism.  But the Mercedarians made the Solemn Vow to exchange themselves for captives if ransom could not be met.  They would replace these Christian captives, many of whom were in danger of losing their Faith by forced conversion, many of whom were in danger of execution.  They vowed to give their life to ransom back people who were in danger of losing their faith.
Think on this.  Today, Americans change religions like they change automobiles.  The belief that our Faith and its profession has eternal consequences has fallen by the wayside.  But in the founding days of the Order of Merced, the belief was strong that denying belief in God (or Allah, conversely) for an opposing religion would damn one to Hell.  The belief is so weakened today by the noxious fumes of relativism that the noble origins of this order seem quaint by our enlightened standards.
Yet how heroic they really were.  To lay down their lives in order to save the soul of another person required supreme faith and supreme courage.  The order had men of such quality, and it continues today to boast men of like caliber.  The specifics of ransoming those in danger of losing their faith are somewhat different, but the commitment to the salvation of souls remains strongly in place. 
In this age of soft values and hard realities, we need men who will bolster our Faith and help us to call on God for strength.  We need men who will meet the challenges of a both plunging cultural standards and militant Wahhabist Islam with Christian ideals.  We need more men like the Mercedarians, to whom I now go.