On
a Marian Pilgrimage:
The Return of Our Great Queen
by John Horvat
On a pilgrimage to visit the miraculous statue of Our
Lady of Good Success, I embarked for Quito, Ecuador with
great expectations.
Part of my task in taking part in this TFP pilgrimage
was to help with the solemnities of her February 2 feast.
However, I also hoped to immerse myself in what was once
a truly Catholic culture. I wanted to imbibe the supernatural
in this city filled with convents and churches.
All the elements were certainly there. High atop Panecillo
Hill, the towering statue of Our Lady of Quito could be
seen throughout the city. In the square-mile historical
center, there is not only a huge domed cathedral but at
least ten massive conventual churches representing Dominicans,
Jesuits, Augustinians, Mercedarians, Franciscans, Carmelites,
Conceptionists and others All these churches are architectural
marvels, many dating from the sixteenth century. Each
could nobly serve as a cathedral in any American diocese.
I was pleased to see that many of these churches are
in good repair. Nearly all are undergoing major restorations.
The Jesuit Church in downtown Quito has the most beautiful
and awe-inspiring woodwork I have ever seen. Gold covers
not only the altars but the whole ceiling. Workmen were
busy restoring the gold-leafing to its original and radiant
splendor.
Everything was set for a glorious pilgrimage. However,
after visiting a few of these churches on the first day,
I was perplexed and disappointed.
Restorations Without Grace
Perhaps the restorations themselves were part of the problem.
I was told that world organizations were pouring money
into these restorations both to preserve them and contribute
to the city’s tourist attractions. Quito was actually
named the first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
While the restorations were well done, I felt they were
almost archeological endeavors totally disconnected from
Catholic worship. The same concern for historical detail
could just as easily apply to an ancient Buddhist pagoda
or an Incan temple. Indeed, the admission fees charged
to enter some churches did little to dispel the impression
of a museum-like atmosphere.
I was told to be sure to visit the Cathedral’s crypt
where the saintly anti-liberal president and martyr Garcia
Moreno is buried. Entering beneath, I found the floor
covered with dirt. Straw and hay were strewn about. Boards
and old debris were haphazardly placed near the walls.
The once immaculate crypt, where I had hoped to pray,
was now presented in this manner to give it a “sixteenth
century look.”
Another factor that added to my perplexity is the fact
that Quito is a modern city. It suffers from the same
errors, indecent fashions and loose morals of any city
in our days. At first glance, the modern masses that crowded
the busy streets seemed so out of context with these great
monuments of the past.
I had seen the great church buildings but I longed to
know the kind of Catholic souls that built these churches
and gave them their true meaning.
A Prayer Heard
It was almost by accident that Our Lady granted my wish.
As
part of the activities of this TFP pilgrimage, I was asked
to help resurrect an old traditional procession called
the “Rosary of the Dawn.” A small replica of
the statue of Our Lady of Good Success had long been carried
through the streets of downtown Quito on the dawn of her
feast while the people prayed the rosary and sang hymns.
With the passage of the years, the procession had dwindled
to a few dozen faithful.
A few days before the feast, I was happily recruited
to distribute invitations to the “Rosary of the Dawn”
at the doors of churches. With my broken Spanish, I began
to talk to Ecuadorian Catholics and change my superficial
perspective. In the weathered and suffered faces of those
who passed by, I began to see the glimmer of a profoundly
religious people.
We hoped at least some of these Catholics might attend
the early morning procession and intensified our efforts
over the next few days hardly knowing what to expect.
The Rosary of the Dawn
At 4:30 a.m. on the day of the procession, we gathered
before Our Lady in the darkened Church praying for “good
success.”
As five o’clock neared, the first groups of people
slowly filtered in. They soon started coming in spurts
and then in torrents – people of all ages, men, women
and children, fragile elderly ladies, husky men and young
students. Whole communities of religious nuns filed in
until we were astonished to see the church jammed with
nearly a thousand people.
Before Quito awoke, the procession formed outside and
Our Lady returned to parade in triumph through the main
streets and central square.
It was then that I saw that my wish was granted. I had
a privileged place in the procession right next to the
statue helping to direct the litter bearers amid the crowd.
As I looked upon the sea of Ecuadorian faces, I saw their
supreme jubilation. We were showered (if not pelted) with
rose petals in a display of contagious Latin exuberance.
It was as if the people were unshackled from their modern
miseries and, forgetting themselves, now only thought
of their queen and mother. The somber strains of the Spanish
hymns filled the streets speaking of a tender child-like
devotion:
For a brief moment, I had a glimpse of the kind of Catholic
souls that built those great churches. When a whole society
is imbued with this kind of enthusiasm for the Faith,
its churches rise to heaven… and heaven comes down
to earth.
A Heavenly Link
If Quito is privileged to many miracles and apparitions,
it is because heaven could not forsake devotion like I
had seen.
Indeed, in those colonial times, heaven did come down
to earth. That is why you can see in its churches the
places where miracles happened through particular statues
and devotions. That is why the Blessed Mother appeared
on so many occasions to look after her children. It is
as if there was a constant intercommunication between
heaven and earth.
While such a link is not as evident today, the unction
of that relationship still pervades in the city. You can
see it in the touching popular devotion to Christ, bloody
and scourged, in His Passion under invocations like Christ
of the Great Strength or Our Lord of the Divine Love.
You can see it in the “unrestored” side altars
full of flowers, candles and testimonies of graces received.
Indeed, the charm that attracts one to Quito lies in what
remains of this link to heaven.
Our Lady of Good Success
Finally, there is Our Lady of Good Success, the object
of my pilgrimage. It is an extraordinary statue resulting
from a heavenly visit to Sister Mariana de Jesus Torres
in 1610 at the Conceptionist Convent. Her prophecies are
specifically about our own tragic days.
Although personal impressions may differ, I must say
she far exceeded my expectations.
Although extremely maternal, she appears more as a queen
than a mother. Everything about her is regal and majestic.
She seems to be in lofty contemplation yet completely
in control of everything around her. She appears sad not
because of anything done to her, but by our failure to
have recourse to her as queen.
She did not inspire in me a desire to ask for small things
or favors. As all- powerful queen, she invites us to ask
for great things – an end to the crisis inside the
Church, a major conversion, a change of heart, or help
in our personal struggle against so many things destroying
society.
Yet her message is one of hope – good success. Her
prophecies speak of times when she will again be recognized
as queen.
I left Quito with my great expectations satisfied. I
left with the certainty that we will see our great queen
parading in triumph in city streets and squares. It will
come about not through the sterile restorations of old
buildings but the fruitful restoration of Catholic souls
from which will come her reign foreseen at Fatima.
