Mary, the Mother of Jesus has many different titles and many different occasions of appearing to those in need. In each of those cases, the Church gives Mary a special "title" that emphasizes the central message she is trying to communicate. Our Lady of Ransom is one of those titles.
In Spain in the year 1218 A.D., the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in separate visions to St. Peter Nolasco, St. Raymond of Penafort, and King James I of Aragon.
She asked them to establish a religious order to liberate Christians who had been kidnapped by the Moors, transported to African prisons, and cruelly tortured to deny their faith in Christ. Members of the new Order of Mercedarians were to do this by means of prayer, raising money to pay for ransom, and taking a vow to offer themselves, if needed, in exchange for the enslaved Christians. Under Mary’s special protection, the order grew rapidly and those ransomed are numbered in the tens of thousands.
Paintings of Our Lady of Ransom always show her as protecting people with her mantle, or robe. Sometimes she is pictured with the people of her order, sometimes with the men she appeared to, and other times with those she has helped to free.
The feast of Our Lady of Ransom is celebrated on September 24th.