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Is Our Lady of Good Success Approved?

Question:

Are the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Good Success approved by the church?

Answer:

It is said that “Our Lady of Good Success” is an apparition to a Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres in Quito, Ecuador in 1599.

There is a canonized saint named Mariana de Jesus de Paredes who lived in Quito, Ecuador and who is called “the lily of Quito.” However, no mention is made in her life of a Marian apparition and she was born after the time of the supposed apparitions so it cannot be her.

The problem with authenticating the apparitions is that there is little information about Mariana de Jesus Torres outside of groups that actively embrace her cause. Even the Wikipedia entries about this person and the apparitions contain no citations.

The most common claim is that a canonical coronation of the statue of Our Lady of Good Success in Quito took place in 1981. Even if this is true, this would add nothing to the veracity of the claim. Canonical coronations of statues or images are a recognition of great devotion and recourse made to them and not recognition of a claim of an apparition.

Most of the claims are without supporting documents or references. I have spoken to a priest from Ecuador and he told me that the apparition is accepted but that there is debate regarding how much of the tradition is original and how much has been added over time.

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