[Ceremonies of Nuns´ Profession of Faith] Modo que se guarda en dar el Habito y profession à las Novicias Descalças de la Sagrada Religion de la Santissima Trinidad, Redempcion de Cautivos

This item is currently on reserve; please contact dealer for more details.

4° (mm 200x150); ll. 30. At the back of the volume, traces of the original decorated wrappers. A very fine copy, in a modern sleep case.

First edition, very rare, of a detailed description of the ceremonies of the profession of faith, which includes copious details on the clothing, ornaments, orations and participants of the significant moment of the Nun´s life.

BNE, R/2324 and R.MICRO/38997 ("reproduccion de R/2324").

The Trinitarians, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives (Latin: Ordo Sanctissimae Trinitatis et Captivorum; abbreviated OSsT), is a mendicant order of the Catholic Church for men founded in Cerfroid, outside Paris, in the late 12th century. From the very outset, a special dedication to the mystery of the Holy Trinity has been a constitutive element of the order's life.

"From the fourteenth century the Trinitarians had lay assistants, i.e., charitable collectors, authorised by letters patent to solicit alms for the order in their respective towns; these were called marguilliers. There were also confraternities of the Holy Trinity, chiefly in the towns where the order had no convent; these consisted of lay tertiaries who wore the scapular of the order, were associated with its spiritual favours, and devoted a portion of their income to its work. In fact the Trinitarians had considerable resources to meet the needs of their work. The funds being collected, the ransomers to the number of three or four set sail from Provence or Spain with objects to alleviate the lot of the captives or coax their jailers. Their destination was usually the Barbary States, especially in the sixteenth century when the corsairs of Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco infested the Mediterranean and made plunder their chief means of existence. The Mercedarians went chiefly to Morocco, while the Trinitarians went preferably to Tunis or Algiers. There began their trials. They had to confront the dangers of the journey, the endemic diseases of the African coast, exposed to the outrages of the natives, sometimes to burst of Mussulman fanaticism, which cost several lives. The most delicate part of the task lay in the choice of captives amid the solicitations with which the monks were besieged and the negotiations for settling the ransom-price between the corsairs and the Trinitarians, between the exactions of the former and the limited resources of the latter. When the sum was not sufficient, the Trinitarians were held as hostages in the place of the captives until the arrival of fresh funds. The choice of captives was made according to the funds; ransom was first paid for the natives of the regions which had contributed to the redemption. Sometimes certain captives were previously indicated by their family who paid the ransom. When the captives returned to Europe, the Trinitarians had them go in procession from town to town amid scenery intended to impress the imagination in justification of the use of the alms and to inspire fresh almsdeeds. The number of those ransomed during the three centuries is estimated at 90,000. The most famous of these was Cervantes (ransomed in 1580), who at his death was buried among the Trinitarians at Madrid in a habit of a Trinitarian tertiary.

[…] [Around 1630] the Trinitarians of Spain formed a schism by separating from the Trinitarians of France under Father Juan Bautista of the Immaculate Conception; the latter added fresh austerity to their rule by founding the Congregation of "Discalced Trinitarians of Spain". This rule spread to Italy and Austria (1690), where the ransom of captives was much esteemed during the constant wars with the Turks. Hence the three congregations, which gave rise to regrettable dissensions. The Discalced also went to France, where they were suppressed by a Papal Bull in 1771.

[…] There have always been nuns attached to the hospitals of the order, but they do not seem to have formed an integral part of it. The true Trinitarian Sisters were founded in Spain by Maria de Romero in 1612 and they still have convents at Madrid and in other cities. They form part of the discalced congregation. The Trinitarians wear a white habit, with a cross of which the upright is red and the cross bar blue" (Moeller, Charles. "Order of Trinitarians." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912.).

Cfr. Ruiz Barrera, María Teresa. 2006. "Redención de cautivos: una especial obra de misericordia de la Orden de la Merced". En La Iglesia española y las instituciones de caridad, 843-861. San Lorenzo de El Escorial: Ediciones Escurialenses.