Under these and similar titles she is invoked by the afflicted, and often represented with her ample robe outspread and upheld by angels, with votaries and suppliants congregated beneath its folds. In Spain, _Nuestra Señora de la Merced_ is the patroness of the Order of Mercy; and in this character she often holds in her hand small tablets bearing the badge of the Order. (Legends of the Monastic Orders, 2d edit.) S.M. "della Liberta," or "Liberatrice," Our Lady of Liberty; and S.M. "della Catena," Our Lady of Fetters. In this character she is invoked by prisoners and captives. S.M. "del Parto," Our Lady of Good Delivery, invoked by women in travail.[1] [Footnote 1: Dante alludes to her in this character:-- "E per ventura udi 'Dolce Maria!' Dinanzi a noi chiamar cosi nel pianto Come fa donna che 'n partorir sia."--_Purg._ c. 20.] S.M. "del Popolo." Our Lady of the People. S.M. "della Vittoria." Our Lady of Victory. S.M. "della Pace." Our Lady of Peace. S.M. "della Sapienza," Our Lady of Wisdom; and S.M. "della Perseveranza," Our Lady of Perseverance. (Sometimes placed in colleges, with a book in her hand, as patroness of students.) S.M. "della Salute." Our Lady of Health or Salvation. Under this title pictures and churches have been dedicated after the cessation of a plague, or any other public calamity.[1] [Footnote 1: There is also somewhere in France a chapel dedicated to _Notre Dame de la Haine_.] Other titles are derived from particular circumstances and accessories, as-- S.M. "del Presepio," Our Lady of the Cradle; generally a Nativity, or when she is adoring her Child. S.M. "della Scodella"--with the cup or porringer, where she is taking water from a fountain; generally a Riposo. S.M. "dell' Libro," where she holds the Book of Wisdom. S.M. "della Cintola," Our Lady of the Girdle, where she is either giving the Girdle to St. Thomas, or where the Child holds it in his hand. S.M. "della Lettera." Our Lady of the Letter. This is the title given to Our Lady as protectress of the city of Messina. According to the Sicilian legend, she honoured the people of Messina by writing a letter to them, dated from Jerusalem, "in the year of her Son, 42." In the effigies of the "Madonna della Lettera," she holds this letter in her hand. S.M. "della Rosa." Our Lady of the Rose. A title given to several pictures, in which the rose, which is consecrated to her, is placed either in her hand, or in that of the Child. S.M. "della Stella." Our Lady of the Star. She wears the star as one of her attributes embroidered on her mantle. S.M. "del Fiore." Our Lady of the Flower. She has this title especially as protectress of Florence. S.M. "della Spina." She holds in her hand the crown of thorns, and under this title is the protectress of Pisa.