There’s a rugged patch of the high Latin American Andes which is an enigmatic treat, steeped in Catholic mystery, fables, prophecy and art. Yet the Conceptionist convent on the beautiful streets of Quito, Ecuador, remains an unfamiliar pilgrimage destination across much of the Anglosphere. It is central to the story of Mother Mariana, a woman who was regarded as saintly even while she lived. Born in Spain, she embarked on the journey halfway across the world to found a convent in the newly formed Audiencia of the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1579.
Quito, which became the Ecuadorian capital in 1830, was the perfect place for such a soul to seriously enter into herself, losing herself in deep contemplation and prayer. It has something innately spiritual about it. The cool, lukewarm humidity, combined with the generous showers of rain and the greenery of the surrounding slopes gives the visitor a sense of background vitality, flowing into the land and the air.
Mariana was receptive to her environment in Ecuador, but her spiritual formation started much earlier. She was spiritually precocious: reportedly she underwent ecstasies upon her first communion, and was betrothed to Christ at an early age. During her formation as a novice, her spiritual director felt himself unworthy to direct her. Early in her time as a sister, she received visions of afflictions to come, both in Ecuador and across the Church.
Mariana foretold in the early 1600s that “shortly after the middle of the 20th century” a “spiritual catastrophe” would occur. (One struggles not to bring to mind Vatican II.) There would be widespread moral corruption, including profanation of the sacrament of matrimony. Depraved priests and their sins would cause suffering for good priests. There would be loss of innocence and modesty among women and children. “Unbridled lust” would ensnare countless numbers of souls. There would be a lack of priestly vocations. She was shown three swords raised to strike the souls of the 20th century for their sins of “heresy, blasphemy, and impurity”.
She also prophesied a “good man” who would address more modern problems in Ecuador and be executed for his faith. Gabriel Garcia Moreno was elected president of Ecuador three times in the late 19th century. A learned and devout man, Moreno’s critics condemned him as ultraconservative and dictatorial but he was a social and educational reformer who made Catholicism the state religion. He pursued universal literacy and imposed popular anti-corruption measures, seeing considerable success.
In the context of the time, Moreno’s outspoken support for the Church was dangerous and he attracted the hostility of anti-clerical nationalists. A target was fixed upon his back after he decided that Ecuador would be the only nation-state in the world to refuse to recognise Italy’s seizure of Rome from the Papal States. He was knifed, macheted and shot on the steps of the national palace in 1875. His final words were: “Dios no muere!” – “God does not die!”
Historians generally agree that evidence suggests he was assassinated by members of a secret society– and if his correspondence with Pope Pius IX is to be believed, by German Freemasons. Until Vatican II, there were moves to canonise him. These were hastily dropped thereafter.
We still have Mother Mariana’s 16th – 17th century diary, which the archdiocese of Quito looks after, so much of this can be corroborated. Worthy of a look in.
By all means go to Quito to pay homage to Mother Mariana, or indeed to Moreno, but also go for the place itself. As a friend observed: “Wherever you are, it’s as if you are floating.”
That’s partly because you are constantly able to glimpse the surrounding peaks beyond the clock towers and churches along the sloping foothills of the Pichincha. The wonderfully preserved historical centre is the best in Latin America, according to Unesco, with elegant colonial buildings with cloisters and courtyards and winding cobbled streets.
There are five religious orders in the city: the Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Carmelites, the (aforementioned) Conceptionists, and the Franciscans, with their domesticated parrots and legendary foundation stories. The indigenous architect of the 16th-century Franciscan friary, Cantuña, is said to have made a pact with the devil for his help in designing and building it, promising his soul as the price upon completion. Cantuña tricked the devil by leaving the monastery unfinished: short by just one stone.
Similarly, the Basílica del Voto Nacional is unfinished but majestic all the same. The locals tell of a prophesy that when the neo-gothic building is completed, the end of the world will come.
The grand statue of Our Lady of Quito, which towers above the city on the Loma el Panecillo, faces the cathedral with a long, straight street between them. Many locals believe that at the apocalypse this gargantuan figure (the tallest aluminium statue in the world) will come alive.
On your travels, don’t neglect the Baños de Agua Santa, the gateway to the Amazon and another Catholic religious centre. You can relax by bathing in hot springs – the Termas de la Virgen, which are said to have miraculous healing qualities – while you absorb spectacular natural geography. It’s the so-called adventure capital of the country, so being hurtled from mountainside to mountainside over waterfalls and ravines on zip-wires, bungee jumping, or making trips to the Amazon rainforest and meeting indigenous villagers are popular activities here.
The legend of Baños says that it was once a debauched and violent place before the Virgin Mary appeared by a waterfall which then flooded the valley where the town lies, washing away its sins. Afterwards, the famous springs appeared.
Ecuador is an enigma: it is quite European and yet utterly otherworldly. You can attend Mass in a wonderful Baroque church before walking past street vendors selling cuy (roasted guinea pig on a stick) and wearing Alpaca wool ponchos and various indigenous charms. To call its religion that of a former Spanish colony would do it a disservice, for this is not a colonial faith but a converted people whose Catholicism is their own. The 17th-century Quito School artistic movement – including prominent mestizo, indigenous and female artists – shows as much.
I’ve never visited anywhere else where delightful and obnoxiously large images of Christ are printed on the back of buses, where street corners are adorned with crucifixes and the Virgin Mary, or where the flag of the Holy See is flown with the national and regional flags from government buildings.
On paper, Ecuador is 6,285 miles away from St Peter’s Basilica, but there was a time in the 19th century when it was closer than even Italy to Rome.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.