December 30
Nuestra Señora de la Nube, Quito, Ecuador
When Sancho de Andrade y Figueroa, Bishop of Quito, was gravely ill, his flock decided to carry the image of Our Lady from the Guápulo district to the Cathedral in procession to ask God for his health. On December 30, 1696, at 4:45 pm, when the procession reached St. Francis's Church, its bell sounded the signal for praying the Gloria Patri. Suddenly Don José de Ulloa y la Cadena, chaplain of the Nuns of the Immaculate Conception, was pointing east, exclaiming, "The Virgin! The Virgin!" According to official documents in the archdiocesan archives, all present saw the Virgin resting on a cloud between the sanctuaries of Guápulo and Quinche, with a crown on her head, a lily in her right hand, and the Child in her left arm. The apparition lasted throughout the recitation of the Gloria, Our Father, and Hail Mary. Then it faded and the cloud covered the image. Afterwards, the bishop got better, and when fully recovered he authorized devotion to Our Lady of the Cloud, erecting an altar to her in Quito Cathedral. She is honored with an annual fiesta and procession on January 1.
¡Ven, Reina del Cielo Ven Nube de Dios;
Reina en este suelo, Reina del amor!
Come, Queen of Heaven; Come, Cloud of God,
Queen of this country, Queen of love!—Chorus of the official hymn of Our Lady of the Cloud
by Fr. Julio María Matovelle
Sources include:
 | Carlos Diaz Reyes, "Nuestra Señora de la Nube," El Señor de Los Milagros, senordelosmilagros.perucultural.org.pe (history) |
| "Nuestra Señora de la Nube, Ecuador ( 1º de enero)," Foros de la Virgen María, foros-virgen-maria.blogspot.com (picture) |
| "1 DE ENERO FIESTA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA NUBE," Misioneros Oblatos o.cc.ss, www.oblatos.com/dematovelle/ (hymn) |
Also commemorated this date:
| Inmaculada Concepción, El Paraíso, Chalatenango, El Salvador. Fiestas. |
| Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Milano, Lombardy, Italy. During mass, image unveiled itself, radiant and holding child to congregation, 1485. |