History of Marian Apparition History… Part Eight

Statue of the Virgin with an aerial view Quito, Ecuador

 1594, Our Lady Appears in Quito, Ecuador

From the website, Tradition on Action[2, 3], along with some information from The Miracle Hunter [1], is the story of the apparition of Our Lady in Quito:

It is common knowledge that one of the most well known churches in Madrid is that of Our Lady of Good Success. What is the origin of the invocation?

The original statue of Our Lady of Good Success discovered in a cave in Spain

After the death of Brother Bernandino de Obregón, founder of the Brothers Minor for the Service of the Sick (the Order of Saint Francis of Paola), Brother Gabriel de Fontaned was elected his successor. Accompanied by Guillermo de Rigosa, he set off for Rome to plead the case for official approval of their Institute before the Roman Pontiff. As they were passing through the town of Traigueras (under the jurisdiction of Tortosa in the Principate of Cataluna), they miraculously discovered in a cave in the mountains a very beautiful statue of Holy Mary carrying her Divine Son in her left arm and a scepter in her right, and a very precious crown on her head.

When they reached Rome, they told the Pope what had happened, and the Pope not only acknowledged the supernatural nature of that discovery, but upon confirming the new Order, he placed it under the protection of the same Virgin, whom he gave the name of the Virgin of Good Success

This is how it came to be that this name was given by the Supreme Pontiff. The Sacred Statue, which was placed in the Royal Hospital of Madrid, became famous for the numerous favors granted by Heaven through her. In 1641 Philip III ordered the construction of the splendid Sanctuary of the Puerta del Sol (Door of the Sun). The magnificence of this edifice that enshrines Our Lady of Good Success is renowned among the Churches of Madrid.

The Spanish nuns who crossed the ocean to found the Convent of the Immaculate Conception in Quito in 1577 brought with them a fervent love for the invocation of Good Success. They did not realize then that Holy Mary would deign to favor them in a very special way by means of this particular invocation. In this group of nuns was a young 13 year old with a vocation, name Mariana.

The miraculous case

It is reported in the timeline on miraclehunter.com[1] that Sr. Mariana  dies for the first time in 1582. Once in Heaven she chose to return to earth to suffer as an expiatory victim for the sins of the 20th century.  She dies a second time in 1588 on Good Friday after an apparition where she was shown the horrible abuses and heresies that would exist in the Church in our times. She was resurrected two days later on Easter Sunday morning.

In the year 1610, Mariana de Jesus Torres,  now Abbess of the Convent and whose virtue was already well known, was distinguished for her devotion to the Virgin of Good Success. One night in the upper choir, as Mariana was praying before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, recommending her community to the Holy Virgin, she noticed a soft light that suddenly appeared in the air. Enveloped in it was the Mother of God accompanied by angels. In her left arm she carried the Divine Child.

Measurements, Our Lady of Good Success

Overcome with emotion, Mariana de Jesus knelt before Mary and, unable to restrain herself, she asked what the purpose of such a heavenly visit was. To this the Mother of God kindly responded: ‘I am Mary of Good Success, the one whom you have invoked with such tender affection. Your prayer has greatly pleased me. Your faith has brought me here. Your love has invited me to visit you.”

The Heavenly Queen also told the humble sister that it was her desire, as well as that of her Divine Child, to be honored by this community as the principal Abbess until the end of time. Toward this end, she ordered her to have a statue made just as she appeared before her eyes with the title of Good Success, and that this statue should be placed for all times above the chair of the Abbesses who would follow her. From there she herself wanted to preside over the Community that she had adopted as her own.

Taken aback by this request, Mother Mariana argued that it would be impossible to reproduce the majesty, beauty, size, and other characteristics of the Heavenly Lady in wood. In response, Our Lady ordered her to take off her cincture (a corded rope around the waist of her habit), and with this to measure her height, a process in which she herself helped by holding one end of it. After this, the Heavenly Lady said, smiling, that she could see to the rest of it by herself.

Finally, she repeated her command, instructing Mariana de Jesus that in her right hand she should hold the crosier and the keys to the Convent since she had taken them for her own, thus assuring that the efforts of Satan to destroy it would be in vain. Therefore, the Virgin of Good Success of Quito appears with the crosier in her right hand, instead of the scepter that is shown in Madrid. [2]

In the year 1611 the statue is officially blessed by the bishop. Our Lady of Good Success was placed above the seat of the Abbess chair at her own specific request as a sign to all that she was the one who governed and watched over the convent. Her official title being that of “Mary of Good Success of the Purification”.

On the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1634, three archangels and their Queen appeared to Mother Mariana. St. Gabriel was carrying a Ciborium filled with Hosts. Our Lady predicts several events in the future Papacy of Blessed Pope Pius IX.

On January 16, 1635, after receiving Holy Communion and the Last Rites, she foretold the exact hour of her death (3 p.m.) and died for the final time.

In 1821, the “truly Catholic” president of Ecuador, Gabriel Garcia Moreno foretold by Our Lady is born. He consecrated the Republic to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1873.  He dies in 1875. Pope Pius IX paid him tribute as a man who had died “the death of a martyr…a victim to his Faith and Christian charity.” In the Cathedral of Quito there is a display of Gabriel Moreno’s incorrupt heart and the famous painting of Our Lady of Quito, which wept at the moment of his martyrdom.

In 1906 during the remodeling of the Convent, Mother Mariana’s three-century old tomb was opened. Her body and habit were found to be whole and incorrupt. In fact, the website Tradition in  Action [3] reports that the bodies of Mariana and the six other Founding Mothers are incorrupt and on display in the convent today.

The cause for beatification of Mother Mariana was launched in 1986.

 

To be continued….

 

Resources:

1.  The Miracle Hunter, Quito.  LINK to website and original article/timeline.
2. and 3.  Tradition in Action, LINK to website and original article.

Wikipedia, Our Lady of Good Event (Good Success) LINK