In a special niche in the Royal Convent of the Immaculate Conception in Quito, Ecuador, there is a small statue in the baroque style. This statue of Our Lady of Peace, affectionately termed the “Little Patroness” by the Conceptionist sisters, was brought from Spain in 1576 by Mother Maria de Jesus Taboada, the first Abbess of the Convent.

In a specially carved niche in the lower choir is the statue of Our Lady of Peace Below, a close-up of "The Little Patroness"

This little statue was highly prized among the sisters, and "the Little Patroness” worked many miracles in its early days, when it was displayed for public veneration in the Church. Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres had a special devotion to this image.

Then, in the early 1600s, during the times of internal turmoil the Royal Convent was suffering, Our Lady of Peace was brought inside the cloisters at the special request of the Founding Mothers. The small statue was set in a finely carved niche in the lower choir near the locked gate separating the sisters from the Church Sanctuary. There it remains to this day.

This was a favorite place for Mother Mariana and the Spanish sisters to go to pray during those difficult days when a group of the native sisters revolted against the strict observance of the rule and were making intrigues with the diocesan authorities to remove the Convent from the control of the Franciscans.

In the year 1601, after the fourth and last imprisonment of Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres, (1) a great miracle of the Little Patroness took place inside the Royal Convent of the Immaculate Conception.

The “Little Patroness” miraculously turned her head, turning her back on the rebellious group of sisters who had formed a procession and were trying to leave the cloisters to enter the streets and go to the Bishop’s Palace. There they intended to present their false accusations against Mother Mariana to the Bishop. But Our Lady did not permit their shameful plan to succeed. Instead, with this miracle of the Little Patroness, most of the rebellious sisters repented, and peace returned to the Royal Monastery.

As you can see in the picture, her head is still turned to this day as a reminder of the warning and punishment the Queen of Heaven exacts on religious who deviate from the spirit of religion and observance of their Rules.

(1) I describe the four imprisonments of Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres, some of the visions she received in prison, and the miracle of the Little Patroness in greater detail on my talk The Suffering of Mother Mariana.

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