Events

On 29 December 2003 Bishop Hugolino came for Holy Mass and a Procession to bless our new grotto of Our Lady of Cisne to whom the people have a great devotion. The time was fixed for 11am and our Madre Petra describes her surprise when, even though this is Ecuador, the Bishop arrived at 10.40am and she seemed to be the only one in the Enclosure! She relates: ‘The doorbell sounded and there stood our good Bishop in his white cassock looking quite serious. I poured out of myself a stream of words like ‘Welcome’ and ‘Good Morning’ to which he listened with all patience and then after a little pause he said in a calm voice, ‘Ave Maria Purisima’ and with that he showed me his hand with the ring. I replied, ‘Sin pecado concebida’ and kissed the ring, with an uncomfortable feeling that this should have come first.

Our church was overflowing for Holy Mass and afterwards we went in procession, the Bishop and Padre Ignacio leading the community and the people singing Marian hymns. When we reached the place the people tried to get as close as possible, some of them climbing up onto our neighbour’s property behind the grotto. With much gusto the Bishop blessed the grotto and Our Lady of Cisne and recited the prayers. The procession then returned to the monastery where the people were served refreshments and prior to his own meal the Bishop blessed our Enclosure reciting Magnificat, Benedictus and Nunc Dimittis while sprinkling everything, including the hens and their home, liberally with Holy Water. The last place to bless was the kitchen and the Bishop went straight to the stove and began to take off the lids of the pots and examine their contents! Finally, having enjoyed his meal, he was entertained with music and recitation of poetry by our community and in his turn sang us some carols. It is a great grace to have a Bishop with such a spirit.

Since the foundation of our monastery here we have celebrated the First Profession of Sr Bernardina, the Monastic Professions of Madre Petra and Madre Miriam Jose. All the ceremonies have been presided over by our Bishop, sometimes accompanied by the Apostolic Nuncio. Our church has been overflowing and the evident hunger for the spiritual life of prayer demonstrated by the people leaves us in no doubt that the Sacred Heart has called us here truly to be Puerta del Cielo.