Embedded Files
Virgen Del Cisne, Marian holy cards collection, ML. 031 Box 22, circa 1675-2018. Marian Library, University of Dayton Libraries, Dayton, Ohio.
Country
Ecuador
Description
El Cisne is the home of a sanctuary devoted to Our Lady of El Cisne. The Spanish, who arrived in 1550, named the place “the swan” after the Spanish Franciscan cofradia known as the Knights of the Swan. They built a small chapel when they established a parish there. Native Ecuadorians became very devout followers of Our Lady and together with the Spanish decided to carve a 6ft statue in her image. They placed this in a shrine that has been there ever since.
Miracles attributed to Our Lady of El Cisne include one that occurred in 1594, when a drought threatened the population to the extent that people planned to emigrate in order to survive. However, Our Lady appeared to a shepherdess who told her to instruct the villagers to build a church in her honor and that she would make it rain. The people obeyed and the heavens opened. Our Lady is celebrated on September 13 with a three-day festival in which over 20,000 devotees participate.
References:
Santoro, Nicholas Joseph. Mary in Our Life: Atlas of the Names and Titles of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Bloomington: iUniverse, 2011.
“STA: Our Lady of El Cisne Revisited.“ St. Thomas Aquinas Church (blog). Accessed April 12, 2024.
Researched by Michael H. Meade
Popular Devotions
Popular devotion: 6ft Cedar Statue in the Cathederal of El Cisne
(See: “Our Lady of El Cisne Revisited”)
Hail Mary
Dios te salve, María.
Llena eres de gracia: El Señor es contigo.
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres.
Y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre: Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Amen.
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