Redeemer, Order of the

REDEEMER, ORDER OF THE (Ordo S. Salvatoris or S. Redemptoris): A popular designation of several Roman Catholic orders. It is incorrectly given to the Brigittines (see Bridget, Saint, of Sweden), and to the Ordo de redemptione captivorum, founded by St. Peter Nolasco (see Nolasco). With more propriety it is applied to the Redemptorists (Societas sanctissimi nostri Redemptoris) of Alfonso Maria da Liguori (q.v.), though its use here can easily lead to misunderstanding. The same is true of the name as designation for a knightly order (De sanctissimo sanguine S. Redemptoris) founded by Vincent I. of Mantua in 1608; it was confirmed by Pope Paul V., but never attained to much importance. The Greek Order of the Redeemer, founded by King Otto I. in 1833 to commemorate the liberation from the Turkish yoke, is a purely secular older of merit. Lastly, a priest of the diocese of Freiburg, J. B. Jordan by name (later called Father Francis of the Cross), founded at Rome in 1881 a Societas divini Salvatoris, devoted to the work of missions. In 1889 it was given the apostolic prefecture of Assam in the East Indies as its field of labor, and in 1895 it also undertook missionary work in South Africa.

(O. Zöckler†)

Bibliography: Heimbucher, Orden und Kongregationen, iii. 313, 331 sqq., 516, 518, 570–571; M. Gritzner, Ritter- und Verdienstorden alter Kulturstaaten der Welt im 19. Jahrhundert, Leipsic, 1893; Currier, Religious Orders, pp. 180 sqq., 466 sqq, 673 sqq.