Our Lady of the Good Event

Servant of God^[2]

Mariana de Jesús Torres

OIC
Servant of God; Mariana de Jesús Torres; OIC
Virgin
Died	16 January 1635
Venerated in	Archdiocese of Quito

Our Lady of the Good Event (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso; Spanish: Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso) is a Catholic Marian title. The phrase "Good Event" refers to the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus.^[1]

It is often mistranslated as "Our Lady of Good Success" due to the superficial similarity between the Spanish word "suceso" (meaning "event") and the English false friend "success".

Background

In 1577 a new Conceptionists monastery was established in Quito, and Maria de Jesus y Taboada (Mariana's aunt) was appointed as the first abbess. Her fourteen year old niece Mariana and four sisters of the order accompanied her on the trip from Spain to Ecuador.[2] On 21 September, 1579, Mariana took perpetual vows and the religious name Mariana de Jesús.

Mother Maria de Jesus died on 4 October 1594 and Mariana succeeded her as abbess. Between 1594 and 1634 Mariana purportedly experienced apparitions of Our Lady of the Good Event.

Apparition in Ecuador (1594-1634)

A Conceptionist sister named Mariana Francisca de Jesús Torres [it] claimed to have received Marian apparitions under this title from 2 February 1594 to 2 February 1634 in Quito.^[2]^{[note 1]} In 1611, the local bishop, Salvador Ribera Avalos, gave his approval to the apparitions that had occurred up to that point.^[3]

Torres died on 16 January 1635,^[2] shortly after the last alleged apparition. When her tomb was reopened in 1906, her body was found to be incorrupt.^[3] The Archdiocese of Quito opened her cause for canonization in 1984 and finished the diocesan stage of the process in 1997.^[2]

Prophetic messages

The apparition messages of "Our Lady of the Good Event" reportedly predicted a "spiritual catastrophe" in the Catholic Church and in society, beginning "shortly after the middle of the 20th century", including:^[4]

Widespread moral corruption
Profanation of the Sacrament of Matrimony
Depraved priests who will scandalize the faithful and cause suffering for good priests
Unbridled lust which will ensnare many souls
Loss of innocence among children and loss of modesty among women
Lack of priestly and religious vocations
A period of catastrophe followed by a period of restoration.

On 8 December 1634, the apparition supposedly predicted that papal infallibility "will be declared a dogma of the Faith by the same Pope chosen to proclaim the dogma of the Mystery of My Immaculate Conception."^[5] In 1854, Pope Pius IX defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and in 1870, he declared the dogma of papal infallibility as defined by the First Vatican Council.^{[note 2]}

On 7 January 1991, the shrine was elevated of Archdiocesan Marian Sanctuary and under diocesan authority, granted the coronation of the statue. On February 2 of the same year, the statue was solemnly crowned as filial homage to the fervent devotion and rendering of thanks to the Mother of God on behalf of the religious community of the Convent and of the devotees of the city of Quito and of the whole archdiocese.^[7]

Statue in the Philippines

The devotion in the Philippines, under a similar name, is separate from that of Quito. A statue of Mary under the title of "Our Lady of the Good Event of Parañaque" is enshrined in St. Andrew's Cathedral in Parañaque, Philippines. Mary is also patroness of the city under this title.

Notes

^ 2 February is the feast day of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus, the event with which the title is associated.
^ In the Catholic Church, an ecumenical council possesses its authority by virtue of its decrees being promulgated by the Roman Pontiff.^[6]