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Advantages of This Novena On their way to Rome to seek approval for their Order, two Spanish monks were caught in a storm so terrible they feared for their lives. Seeking shelter, a strange light in the hills above them led them to a hidden cave. In it, they discovered a statue of the Queen of Heaven carrying her Divine Son in one arm and a scepter in the other. Such was the prodigious finding in Spain of the original statue of Our Lady of Good Success. The first part of this novena to Our Lady of Good Success points out important lessons we can take from meditating on the story. In the most desperate storms of life, we can find unexpected graces and assistance from Our Lady, our shelter and consolation. Seeking her, we will find a guide and protectress who will accompany us on our pilgrimage on this earth and lead us securely to our final destination. The novena continues the story with the apparition of Our Lady of Good Success in the New World. It was the faith and fervent prayer of a Conceptionist Sister in a convent in Quito, Ecuador that induced Our Lady to appear and offer new proofs of her mercy and goodness. By emulating the faith, devotion, and fervor in prayer of Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres, we also can win the powerful protection of Mary, who has promised her good success to those souls who remain faithful in these unfortunate days of crisis in the Church and society. It was my privilege to translate this nine-day prayer, which in its original version was directed to the cloistered Conceptionist Sisters who dwell under the same roof as the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Good Success in the Convent in Quito. I adapted the Novena for the men and women in the world so that they also can have recourse to Our Lady under this title. Knowing that Our Lady of Good Success said that it was her particular desire to be known in these times, we can have confidence that she will be attentive to our prayers. Marian Therese Horvat, Ph.D. |