Miraculous statue of Our Lady del Buen Suceso
Immediately after this apparition, Mother Marianna asked Bishop Quito to respond to the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary as soon as possible. After receiving his consent, she entrusted the performance to the artist Francisco del Castillo, who was not only an experienced sculptor, but also a man of great virtue combined with deep Marian devotion. When the job was done, he decided he would have to travel to Europe to find the best Madonna face paints. He promised to return to Quito by January 16, 1611 and complete the work. However, the night before his arrival, the figure’s face was miraculously painted. When the sisters came to matins early in the morning, the chapel was filled with blue light surrounding the statue. When the artist arrived at the monastery the next morning to finish his work, he exclaimed in surprise: “What do I see? This wonderful sculpture is not my work. This is an angelic work because something so wonderful could not be created here on earth by the hands of a mortal. No sculptor, however gifted, could create such perfection and unearthly beauty. ” The sculptor confirmed the authenticity of the miracle under oath. Under the declaration he wrote, there is also the signature of Bishop Quito, who soon had a novena prepared for the solemn enthronement. On February 2, 1611, he solemnly consecrated the miraculous statue of Our Lady of the Good Event. The sculpture was carried in a solemn procession to the higher choir of the monastery church on a specially prepared throne. Every year it is carried in procession from the choir to the main altar during the novena preceding the feast of Our Lady of the Good Event on February 2. In recent years, the statue is also displayed for the faithful during the Marian month (i.e. in May) and during the Holy Rosary month (in October).
The main revelation: the extinction of the eternal lamp and its meaning
Mother Marianna spent the rest of her life on internal and external mortifications and sacrifices: she wanted to become a victim for the twentieth century, as the Holy Mother asked her. Sister Marianna had the most important apparition on the morning of February 2, 1634, when the eternal lamp burning in front of the altar suddenly went out while praying before the Blessed Sacrament. When Sister Marianna tried to light it again, Our Lady appeared to her and said:
“Prepare your soul so that more and more cleansed it may enter into the fullness of your Lord’s joy. Oh, if mortals, and especially godly souls, knew what heaven is, what it is to have God, how else would they have lived and would not refuse any sacrifice to possess Him.
The extinction of the monastery lamp you saw has many meanings:
First, in the late nineteenth century and during much of the twentieth century, there will be confusion in the then free republic. Then the precious light of faith will be extinguished in souls because of the almost complete corruption of morals. During this period there will be great physical and moral calamities, public and private. A small group of people who keep the treasure of faith and virtue will experience cruel and unspeakable sufferings and prolonged martyrdom. In order to free people from the slavery of these heresies, those whom My Holy Son has called to perform the Renewal need great willpower, perseverance, courage and trust in God. There will come a point when everything will seem lost and all efforts will be in vain; it will be so to test the faith and trust of the righteous, then there will be a happy beginning of complete regeneration.