[Rank]
S. Petri Nolasci Confessoris;;Duplex;;3;;vide C5

[Rule]
vide C5;mtv
9 lectiones

[Oratio]
O God, Who hast commended thy love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,~
Thou didst die for us, that Thou mightest redeem us from the hand of the enemy;~
and Who didst raise up thy holy servant Peter in imitation of that thy so great~
love for their souls to redeem the bodies also of thy servants from the hand of~
the enemies of thy Cross, and to that end, didst choose him for a mean whereby~
Thou hast given unto thy Church a new family of sons; mercifully grant unto us,~
at his petition, that we may be delivered from the bondage of our sins, and may~
one day together with him rejoice in perfect liberty in our very Fatherland,~
which is in heaven
$Qui vivis

[Lectio4]
Peter Nolasco was born of noble parents at Recaudun near Carcassonne in France~
(about the year 1189,) and is chiefly distinguished for his great love toward his neighbour. It~
was considered a foreshadowing of this virtue, that when he was a little child~
in his cradle, a swarm of bees settled on his right hand, and began to make an~
honey-comb there. He lost his parents while still young, and in consequence of~
his horror of the Albigensian heresy, with which France was then plagued, he~
sold his property there and emigrated to Spain. Here he first discharged a vow~
which he had made at the sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of Monserrat, and~
afterwards went to Barcelona. Here he was so affected by the miserable state of~
the Christians who were in slavery to the Moors, that he expended his whole~
fortune in ransoming as many of them as possible, and used to say that he wished~
he could be sold himself to ransom more, or could himself change places with~
them.

[Lectio5]
It came to pass that God showed how agreeable to Him was the charitable zeal of~
Peter. One night when he was praying, and his mind was much exercised on the~
means of succouring the enslaved Christians, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him~
in a vision, and gave him to understand that it would be most pleasing to her~
Son and herself, if he would found in her honour an order of religious men,~
whose chief duty it should be to effect the redemption of Christian bondsmen out~
of the hand of the unbelievers. In conformity to this revelation, which had~
likewise on the same night been made to St Raymond de Pegnafort and King James~
I. of Aragon, he founded the Religious Order of the Blessed Mary of Ransom, for~
the redemption of captives. The members of this order add a fourth vow to the~
three essential ones of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience, namely, that they will~
be ready if need be to remain as hostages in 'the hand of the unbelievers for~
the liberation of others.

[Lectio6]
After he took the vow of virginity he remained with his purity quite unsullied~
all his life, and was at the same time a bright pattern of long-suffering,~
lowliness, temperance, and other virtues. God was pleased to adorn him with the~
gift of Prophecy, whereby he foretold things to come. Among others, he~
prophesied to King James that he would take the city of Valencia from the Moors,~
which he afterwards did. He was refreshed by frequent apparitions of his~
Guardian Angel and of the Virgin Mother of God. He had lived to a great age,~
when being quite worn out, and falling into a grievous sickness, he perceived~
that his end was at hand. He then received the holy Sacraments, and, gathering~
his brethren around him, exhorted them for the last time to show pity to slaves.~
After this he began to repeat with great emotion the ex. Psalm, I will praise~
thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, and when he had uttered the words He sent~
redemption unto His people, he resigned his soul to God. This happened at~
midnight between the 23rd and 24th of December, 1256. Alexander VII. ordered~
that his feast should be celebrated on the 31st of January.
