Our Lady of Quinche
Virgen Del Quinche, Marian holy cards collection ML. 031 Box 22, circa 1675-2018.
Marian Library, University of Dayton Libraries, Dayton, Ohio.
Country
Ecuador
Description
In 1586, a sculptor, Don Diego de Robles, used the cedar of Equator and carved a statue of the Blessed Mother to look like Our Lady of Guadalupe (Santora, 361). Don Diego de Robles has much experience creating various images of Mary. He originally started creating the statue because he received an order from the Lumbici Indians. When he was finished with the statue, the Lumbici Indians were unable to pay for the statue. The Oyacachi Indians had a large sum of cedar that Don Diego de Robles could use for future sculptors, so Diego went there to trade for the cedar (“Our Lady of Quinche”). The Oyacachi Indians had a vision of Our Lady that was seen in a cave that promised to protect the children. When they saw the image that Diego created, it resembled the vision they had in the cave. The Oyacachi Indians and Don Diego de Robles agreed to trade the cedar for the image. Following the trade, the Oyacachi Indians asked Diego to build them a shrine for their new statue (“Our Lady of Quinche”). Initially Diego declined, but on his trip back from the trade he had a horse accident. Diego saw that as a sign that he should build the shrine for the image, so he returned and built the shrine. The statue stayed with the Oyacachi Indians until 1604, until it was moved to Quinche, Ecuador (“Our Lady of Quinche”). Our Lady of Quinche’s name comes from this statue sculpted by Don Diego de Robles. The statue has since moved to several different churches, and in 1985 the chapel that the statue is at was announced a national sanctuary of Ecuador (“Our Lady of Quinche”). Our Lady of Quinche also goes by several different names, one of which is "Queen of Ecuador." In the picture above, it can be seen that there is supernatural light in the background. On November 21st, there is a feast day to celebrate Our Lady of Quinche (Santora, 361).
“Our Lady of Quinche“. CatholicSaints.Info. 17 November 2016. Web. 27 February 2018. https://catholicsaints.info/our-lady-of-quinche/.
Santoro, Nicholas J. Mary in Our Life: Atlas of the Names and Titles of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Their Place in Marian Devotion. IUniverse, 2011.
Researched by Michael H. Meade
Popular Devotions
Blessed Mother,
in the image of your Presentation,
the people of Ecuador find great security,
Grant that we ,
With your assistance,
May be free from all evil and become temples of your glory.
Amen.
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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