OUR MOTHER OF EL CISNE (ECUADOR) - 12th Aug

 After founding the city of Loja, Ecuador in 1548, the Spanish colonized a mountain area, The Swan.

    In 1594, a drought and plague of rats destroyed crops in the region. Threatened with famine in addition to pressure from the Spanish, 

    the local Indians had decided to emigrate in search of a better land, when an apparition of the Virgin changed their minds. A young native woman herding sheep to pasture met with 

    a most lovely Lady crowned with fragrant roses who stayed with her, conversing about God while the flock grazed. The people built the church, and rains fell.

    October 12, 1594, was the apparition date and the end of the drought. The natives of El Cisne commissioned a statue from Diego de Robles of Quito. Carved of oak, 

    the statue of the Virgin holding the Child in her left hand and a scepter in her right. The statue was canonically crowned on September 8, 1930. 

    A new shrine begun in 1934 was consecrated on August 12, 1979, attended by a crowd of regional clergy and officials. May Our Mother of El Cisne bless us all!




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