Conceptionist Church on the Feast Day of
Our Lady of Good Success
On February 2, 1610, Our Lady of Good Success said to Mother Mariana:
“With the making of My Statue, I will favor not only you and my Convent, but also the people - and the people in general - throughout the centuries. How many conversions it will bring about! “As for your request that your name be hidden, this pleases me greatly, and I will do as you have asked. Tell the Bishop that it is My will and the will of My Most Holy Son that your name be hidden at all costs, both within as well as outside the cloister, for it is not fitting at this time that anyone know the details or origin of how this Statue came to be made. For this knowledge will only become known to the general public in the 20th century….”
“Know, beloved daughter, that when your name is made known in the 20th century, there will be many who will not believe, claiming that this devotion is not pleasing to God…
“A simple, humble faith in the truth of My apparitions to you, my predilect child, will be reserved for humble and fervent souls docile to the inspirations of grace, for Our Heavenly Father communicates His secrets to the simple of heart, and not to those whose hearts are inflated with pride, pretending to know what they do not or infatuated with empty science.”
Reception of Blessed Candles on Candlemas Day in Quito under the protective mantel of Our Lady of Good Success
Thanking Our Lady of Good Success for Her protection and care!
“A simple, humble faith in the truth of My apparitions...will be reserved for humble and fervent souls docile to the inspirations of grace.."
Day 1: A little introduction to the History and background of the story of Our Lady of Good Success
This story of Our Lady of Good Success has been wonderfully recounted in The Admirable Life of Mother Mariana written by Fr. Manuel Sousa Pereira and translated by Dr. Marian Horvat and published by Tradition in Action. It is a most compelling account of Mariana de Jesus, mystic prophetess, seer, stigmatist and victim soul, who lived in Quito, Ecuador during its foundation as a Colony of Spain. The details of all of her life’s sufferings accumulated into one lifelong martyrdom. At the age of 25, she received the wounds of Our Lord thought not always visible. At 30 yrs. of age, she became the Mother Abbess, an office which she felt unqualified for but ended up holding this office numerous times in her religious life. She actually died three separate times during her life as a religious.
Her life parallels only the greatest of the Church’s canonized saints such as St. Theresa of Avila and St. Catherine Siena. This work of Fr Pereira’s is an historical account of this sister’s communication with Jesus in the various stages of His life, Our Lady (esp. under the title of “Good Success”), the Archangels, Guardian angel and numerous Saints and all of her important events of her life. Due to the subject matter contained in her discourses with Heaven, this book that documents their exchange could be considered a virtual “catechism” to be employed in these calamitous times for the good of the Church. Additionally, it can be said that all of these Heavenly Visitors spoke not only to Mariana de Jesus but to all Catholics directing us on the best way to uphold the Faith and conduct ourselves to avoid ruination during this terrible epoch.
The author, Fr Manuel Souza Pereira, originally was asked by the sisters of the Conceptionist Convent in which Mariana resided to write this book in the 1700’s for the elderly and sick sisters as a means of consolation, hoping to give these poor sisters an example of how they should conduct themselves during their illness and encouraging them not to despair. However it seems as though he had an inkling that in future times, this book would travel outside of the confines of the cloister and would be used as a tool to diffuse this cult of “good success” I
It is interesting to note that this author was orphaned at a young age and raised by his uncle and his family. Growing up in a military atmosphere, Manuel decided to follow his uncle and become a soldier. However due to the seemingly irreligious state a soldier could fall into, both his aunt and uncle forewarned him to safeguard himself against temptation. Yet, as soon as he entered into this career, he felt himself drifting far from God as he was sorely tempted to grievously sin with bad companions. Divine Providence watched over him closely for he was saved by a Franciscan priest who happened to be his close confidant and confessor. This good priest gave him the courage to realize that he could overcome this temptation. He also gave him a book to read on the biography of Mariana de Jesus Torres.
Reading her biography, he began to pray to her and have visions of her as he slept. She implored him to end his worldly career as a soldier and instead become a soldier in the Seraphic Order of St. Francis. He hesitated at first but after seeing a vision of the place in Hell he would occupy if he did not heed the call of the religious life, he succumbed to the calling.
He became a priest and ended up assisting the Convent of the Immaculate Conception in Quito, Ecuador-the very convent of Mariana de Jesus. Throughout his priestly life, Mariana de Jesus was his “guiding star” that supported him in all of his trials even appearing to him in visions from time to time.
This two volume biography of the Servant of God, Mariana de Jesus Torres, that tells this marvelous story of Mother Mariana and Our Lady of Good Success, contains well over 500 pages of detailed description of Mother Mariana's life of immolation in the Colonial era in Quito, Ecuador and then the profound narrative of the apparitions and prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success.
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Nine Day Novena to Our Lady of Good Success
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