On Friday afternoon the Icon of the Mother of God in Her Czetochowa representation arrived at the Church of Saint John of the Cross, in the sector known as Central Guasmo, a neighborhood with not a very good reputation south of the city. The pastor, Fr. Jorge Montalvo, was vicar for two years in the parish of Czestochowa, so he knows very well the history of the Icon from Jasna Gora.
A nice visit was scheduled on Friday, September 20th. The Pilgrim Icon of the Virgin of Czestochowa reached the Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima and the Saint Joaquin Foundation and also Saint Ana in La Aurora, an urban parish of the Daule canton. Although the chapel was the first in the sector, that day it belongs to the Saint Albert the Great Parish, which serves as rector's church.
Tuesday, September 17 was a great day in Ecuador. The National Assembly, after years of postponing the vote on the reforms to the Organic Integral Criminal Code (COIP) of Ecuador, rejected the decriminalization of abortion for cases of rape, incest, non-consensual insemination and malformation of the baby in the womb, including until the ninth month of gestation. 70 votes were needed to legalize abortion, but they only reached 65. The reform did not take place.
The Pilgrim Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa arrived at the Parish of Saint Albert The Great, in the Daule canton, on Sunday morning, at the end of the Intensive Week of Prayer for the Life of the Unborn, which took place from September 8 to 15, since the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Guayaquil, Mons. Luis Cabrera, had requested more prayer so that no laws were passed in favor of abortion.
After taking the Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa from the Parish of Our Lady of the Dawn, the next visit was the Parish of Blessed Virgin Health of the Sick, where Father Mario Oliva as a parish priest on Friday September 13 welcomed Her.
While the Icon was placed near the main altar, songs were sung to Mary, and then the Holy Rosary was recited for the intention of the unborn.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 11, the Icon of Czestochowa arrived at the Parish of Our Lady of the Dawn. The parish priest, Father Jaime Cedeño knows this image very well, since his first parish as priest was precisely the Parish of Our Lady of Czestochowa.
“Expreso” newspaper of national circulation in Ecuador publishes the news of the pilgrimage of Our Lady of Czestochowa Icon in the “initiative called ‘From Ocean to Ocean’ and whose purpose is to defend life and family.”
On Tuesday, very early in the morning, before the 8:00 am Mass, the Pilgrim Icon arrived at the Parish of Santa Teresita. Here She was received by the Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament who welcomed Our Mother with a street of rose petals and escorted Her to the side of the main altar, where they adorned Her with flowers and tablecloth.
But I think it is the first time that Mary has joined her children in a house to pray for a particular intention.
On Wednesday, September 4, the Pilgrim Icon arrived at the Mary Mother of the Church Parish.
On Thursday night, after Mass, the Pilgrimage coordinator in Guayaquil made an explanatory talk about the importance of the Icon and the reason for its arrival in the country, inviting those present to ask Our Mother for the women who are thinking of abortion,