Our Lady of the Cloud

Documented expansion: Quito, Azogues and the memory of the sanctuary

The advocation of Our Lady of the Cloud has two important places in the Ecuadorian memory. The account of origin is located in Quito, while the sanctuary that concentrates today a main part of devotion is in Azogues, on Calvary hill, east of the city. This fact sheet does not reduce the advocation to a single scenario: it retains the historical and devotional relationship with Quito and places the cartographic point in the Franciscan sanctuary of Azogues.

An academic research from the University of Azuay, dedicated to religious tourism in the province of Cañar, transcribes the foundation chronicles guarded in the sanctuary. According to this documentation, in 1911 the foundation of a Franciscan community was proposed in Azogues and on 27 May 1912 the work of the house and of the religious group began. The chronicles describe the collaboration of the neighborhoods through mingas, material donations and working days. The documented history of the building, therefore, is not only that of its walls: it is also that of the cooperation of the faithful and of the Franciscan presence.

The same research describes a long-term constructive process. It contains decisions on the stone walls, the main altar and the façade, the construction of the tower since 1941 and its blessing on January 1, 1943. It also points to the artistic value of the altarpiece and the venerated sculpture. These data come from university research and the chronicles that this consultation; they are not presented as a complete transcription of all the archives of the sanctuary.

The story of 1696: tradition and documentary memory

The tradition of the Cloud tells that on December 30, 1696, while a procession of the Rosary went through Quito for the disease of Bishop Sancho of Andrade and Figueroa, several people saw in the sky a figure of the Virgin with the Child formed in a cloud. The thesis consulted reproduces a narrative attributed to later historical sources and states that sworn statements were received from witnesses. In this document, it is presented as a traditional account transmitted by devotion and by these later sources; it is not stated that the Church has declared the phenomenon supernatural by the mere fact that there is a local narrative or tradition.

The feast of Azogues is held on January 1 and the research describes novies, processions and the participation of the neighborhoods. Devotion also retains a reference to Quito, where the origin of the story is located. The pilgrimage to the sanctuary, the architecture of the Republican era, the altarpiece and the sculpture form a set of religious heritage and prayer. The favors attributed to the intercession of the Virgin must be read as devotional testimonies, without turning them into recognized miracles when there is no formal decree or ecclesial research.

The published location corresponds to the shrine building identified in OpenStreetMap; it does not intend to make the coordinate the exact place of the Quiteño story of 1696. The Virgin of the Cloud is venerated as an intercessor: Christian prayer addresses God and asks Mary to accompany and present the pleas of her children.

Verified sources for this extension

• University of Azuay, Cabrera Campoverde and Zhunio Encalada, Design of a Religious Tourism Route in the Province of Cañar (2015)especially the diagnosis of the sanctuary and its foundation chronicles.
• OpenStreetMap, Franciscan Sanctuary Our Lady of the Cloud, Azogues (location of building).

Documented update: sanctuary, coronation and procession

The sanctuary of Azogues should not be confused with the Quiteño place to which tradition links the account of the Cloud. The fact sheet retains this distinction: the 1696 story belongs to the historical and devotional memory of Quito, while the point of the map corresponds to the Franciscan Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Cloud, on the hill of Calvary of Azogues.

The research of the University of the Azuay documents the Franciscan implantation and the prolonged development of the religious whole since 1912. The chronicles studied describe the participation of the neighborhoods through mingas and donations, as well as the progressive construction of the temple, its stone walls, the tower and the elements of the altar. The same research identifies the sanctuary as a place of religious and architectural interest; it does not present here every constructive date as if it replaced an ecclesiastical record.

The feast and procession of 1 January are part of the liturgical and community life of Azogues. The Diocese of Azogues documents the Eucharistic celebration and the procession in honor of the Virgin of the Cloud; these acts prove the continuity of public veneration, but do not by themselves make the account of the 1696 manifestation a supernatural apparition.

The local and historical sources consulted place 1 January 1967 as the date of the canonical coronation of the image and of the Child. "Canonical coronation" refers to the venerated image: it does not amount to an approval of all revelations, testimonies or interpretations associated with the advocation.

Ecclesial State

It is a public Catholic cult in the sanctuary and in the celebrations of the Diocese of Azogues: permitted veneration. The sources consulted do not contain a modern pronunciation of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith that declares the phenomenon of Quito supernatural. Mary is venerated as an intercessor; worship corresponds only to God.

Verified sources of this update

• University of Azuay, Design of a Religious Tourism Route in the Province of Cañar, diagnosis of the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Cloud.
• Diocese of Azogues, Eucharistic celebration and procession of the Virgin of the Cloud.
• OpenStreetMap, Franciscan Sanctuary Our Lady of the Cloudfor the location of the building.