Seventy kilometers from the city of Loja in the mountains of southern Ecuador is the town of El Cisne, the site of a much venerated Marian shrine. The basilica of El Cisne was built in 1742 and modeled after a similar basilica in Harlungenberg, Germany. In 1594, the inhabitants of the El Cisne region had desired their own religious relic, similar to the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Representatives of the local people traveled to the capital city Quito, where they requested the sculptor Don Diego de Robles to create the Virgin de El Cisne statue. History tells us that those who had ordered the image couldn’t or wouldn’t pay the sculptor for it, and he traded it to the “oyacachi” Indians for some large cedar boards he needed. At a later time, popular fancy enriched the facts with the legend that the Virgin had appeared earlier to the Indians in a cave and had promised to deliver them from the dangerous bears which devoured the children. Our Lady of Quinche is almost entirely “a people’s Madonna,” a protector of the Indians. The image is a fine carving in cedarwood, measuring 62 centimeters in height. The handsome sculpture is hidden by large brocade garments, covered with jewels and embroidered with gold and silver threads, which only allow the serene dark face to be seen. The virgin of Quinche is credited with many miracles and the Indians ask varied favors through her intercession. But their relations toward her are of an extraordinary intimacy. We have seen many instances of people asking Mary for protection. The Indians of Quinche are no exception, but they in turn display a rare sensitivity of emotion. High in the Andes Mountains, these Indians offer their protection to the Little One who is their delicate beloved. In late November every year, thousands of people walk down the Quito valley to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Quinche. They carry torches or pocket lamps and tell stories of miracle healings. Throughout Ecuador there are many other shrines where people come to pray for a sick person or to give thanks for health and prosperity.

Other pilgrimage shrines in Ecuador are:

* The Sanctuary of the Grotto of the Virgin of the Rocio in Canar
* The Grotto of La Paz in Carchi
* Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Charity in Carchi
* Sanctuary of the Water Virgin Santa in Tungurahua
* Sanctuary of the Virgin of Huayco in Bolivar
* Church The Swan in Loja
* Pilgrimage church of El Cisne, Ecuador