At the near approach of the Advent of Our Lord in Bethlehem, even in the womb before He was born, Our Lady, the Ark of the New Covenant, took Him to St. Elizabeth as she carried St. John the Baptist to commission him to be the voice crying out in the wilderness "prepare the way of the Lord." St. John spent his life announcing the coming of the Messias for the benefit of those of good will who awaited Him. In our days, in the early 21st century, I believe we can look back at the apparitions of Our Blessed Mother over the past 500 years and say that she has been fulfilling the role of St. John, preparing us for the second coming of Christ, not as a Babe in a manger, but as the Terrible Judge. And yet, even in His role as Just Judge, He proves that His mercy still burns in His Sacred Heart by sending His Holy Mother to warn us of His coming. The historical events involved in Her apparitions are well known; however, I believe that the circuмstances of the apparitions can be just as helpful in revealing Her purpose as the messages that She brings. Some examples follow.

    This title, by which Our Lady describes Herself to Mother Mariana de Jesús Torres, in Spanish is Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso. This is commonly, almost universally, mistranslated as Our Lady of Good Success. However, the Spanish word suceso does not mean success. It means an event, an occurrence. So the correct translation of Our Lady's title is not Our Lady of Good Success but rather Our Lady of the Good or Great Event/Occurrence. This is extremely significant. It refers to the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary! The culmination of all the events symbolized in the life of Mother Mariana is that when all seems to be lost, at that moment our Lady will intervene and the Church will be restored - the Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart - the Great Event! This is also the message of Our Lady of Fatima: "In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph!"
    The events in the life of Mother Mariana of the Conceptionist sisters in the convent of the Immaculate Conception in Quito are so symbolic that if they had not occurred so long ago, one would think it was an allegory written by a Traditionalist Catholic in the 21st century.
    Our Lady repeatedly warns Mother Mariana that in the middle of the 20th century, a horrible chastisement would befall the Church (cf. Her warning at La Salette and Fatima's Third Secret). She explains in some detail the things that the Church would suffer, saying that the Sacraments would be difficult to find, that there would be the lack of a shepherd to guide the flock, etc. In addition to the direct communication of these warnings in words, the events which Mother Mariana endured and witnessed are equally prophetic. The books I have read discuss the words but I believe the meaning of the sufferings is even stronger.
    Mother Mariana wanted to live her Franciscan vocation by following perfectly the Rule of the Franciscans given by Pope Julian II. That is, she wanted to hold on to the traditions, and not innovate in any way, no matter how insignificant it may appear to be, just as Catholics who want to keep the Faith have always done. There were many in the convent who did not want to follow the rule [keep the Faith] and they conspired to make false reports to the bishop which led to her being put into the convent prison. This worked due to the weakness of the prioress who knew it was wrong but passed on the calumnies anyway. Eventually, all of the nuns who wanted to keep the rule were put into the prison, underground, and unable to assist at the Mass and Divine Office.
    The convent is symbolic of the Church in the mid-20th century. It is taken over by rebellious people, enemies of the rule, who don't want to keep the rule and those who hold on to tradition are placed in an underground prison and denied access to the Sacraments. All of this was done at the command of weak prioress and a bad bishop. The bishop's soul was only saved by the sacrifices of Mother Mariana on his behalf. This happens repeatedly; Mother Mariana and sometimes the other obedient nuns are thrown in prison, then they are released, only to be thrown back in again.
    Mother Mariana actually died more than once and came back after having been shown visions of the horrible times that would come upon the Church in the mid-20th century. One thing she saw was the extinguishing of the sanctuary light in the convent chapel and nobody was able to re-ignite it. Our Lady explains many meanings to Mariana but the most obvious is that the Blessed Sacrament, i.e. the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, would seem to be all but abolished. It is even the same symbolism that Pope Pius XII used when he warned:

    Our Lord promised to be with us always, so there will always be a true Mass somewhere, but it won't be continuous, from the rising of the sun to the setting thereof. The other symbolism that Our Lady does describe of the sanctuary lamp going out is that the Church will be without a pope:

    As always, however, Our Lady gave us a remedy to the evils that would befall the Church, and from our perspective, what has already happened. After St. Gabriel the Archangel appeared to her, Mother Mariana says:

• The Little Office, so pleasing to Mary most holy. (107)
  
• The Little Office which gives me so much pleasure (Our Lady, p. 146)
• her Guardian Angel, who said, "Spouse of the Lord, why do you fear? You saw Hell! The devil did this to try to impede the recitation of the Little Office. Bitter times will come when the Little Office will be left behind, and the spirit of the Convent weakened. Woe to those who shall have a part in this." On the steps ascending to the choir, she again heard that hideous voice, which cried out: "I shall use all of my power to prevent the praying of this accursed Little Office, for, by it, my forces are weakened and I am destroyed." (p. 65)

   These are just the more striking examples of the importance Our Lady (and Her enemy) places on the recitation of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary! There are countless more throughout the biography of Mother Mariana. What is it about the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary that makes it so special? Why does She ask us with such urgency to pray it? The main message of the life of Mother Mariana and the apparitions and sufferings she endured is that a climactic event would take place in the middle of the 20th century and that those living at that time would be without Sacraments and shepherds. What was it that pleased Her so? What was it that caused Satan to hate it so? And what is the connection between the Little Office and the Great Apostasy that She warned us about that would happen in the middle of the 20th century? With these questions in mind, I made a concerted effort to recite the Little Office prayerfully and meditatively, slowly and with as much attention to the meanings of the psalms, prayers, versicIes that now [meaning the way it was at the time of the beginning of the apostasy, the death of Pope Pius XII, October 9, 1958] compose the Little Office as I could and I began to appreciate much more the comfort to be found amid the psalms, but also that the Church WILL TRIUMPH when the GREAT EVENT happens. I believe that now that we are in the midst of those days, these psalms seem to take on a new meaning; they are filled with comfort, consolation, and beauty, but more than that, they remind us of the coming triumph and the restoration of all things in Christ.
    This has been taken from the introduction to my book about the TRUE name Our Lady chose at Quito in Ecuador when she spoke to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres and warned her of the coming apostasy in the 20th Century that would last into the 21st Century. In my next installment I shall show how this great event coincides with the Triumph of the Catholic Church. The above is from the introduction to my book about the TRUE name Our Lady chose at Quito, Ecuador when she spoke to Mother Mariana de Jesús Torres and warned her about the apostasy of the 20th century. I encourage all to pray the Little Office and want to inform you that, for less than a cup of coffee and a morning roll, you can obtain the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In these times it is so important to turn to Mary for through her, Christ will triumph!