Borja School Marks 120 Years of the Dolorosa Miracle — April 25 Alumni Gathering Coming Up

The Story Behind the Devotion

If you've lived in Cuenca a while, you've probably walked past the Unidad Educativa Particular Borja without knowing why a school in Cuenca celebrates a miracle that happened in Quito. Here's the short version.

On April 20, 1906, students at the internado del Colegio San Gabriel, en Quito — a Jesuit boys' boarding school — reported an unusual experience. Per El Mercurio (source), the students "afirmaron haber visto cómo una imagen de la Virgen Dolorosa abría y cerraba los ojos durante aproximadamente 15 minutos."

Dozens of boys and religious staff — including Father Andrés Roesch — witnessed it. Church authorities investigated and concluded: "el fenómeno no podía explicarse" — the phenomenon couldn't be explained naturally.

That event became the "prodigio de amor" de la Virgen Dolorosa — one of Ecuadorian Catholicism's best-known devotions, observed every April 20 in Jesuit-affiliated schools across the country. Borja is one of those schools.

This Year's Observance

Monday, April 20, 2026 marked the 120th anniversary. El Mercurio reports the school held its fiestas patronales with three distinct moments:

• 6:00 PM — "procesión" (procession)
• 7:00 PM — "eucaristía" (Mass)
• 8:30 PM — "noche cuencana" (Cuenca-themed cultural night)

The main Mass — the misa solemne en honor a la Dolorosa — was held in the coliseo del plantel (the school's coliseum-style venue).

The programming was framed by this year's theme: "Encuentro bajo el manto" — Encounter Beneath the Mantle.

What's Still Coming

If you missed Monday's main events, there's one more open gathering this week.

Saturday, April 25 — Día del Exalumno (Alumni Day):

• 8:30 AM — Eucaristía in "la capilla" (the chapel)
• 9:30 AM — Desayuno de confraternidad (fellowship breakfast) in "el coliseo" (the coliseum)

It's mainly for alumni, but alumni days at Ecuadorian schools are typically warm toward visitors — if you want to understand Cuenca Catholic culture from the inside, this kind of event is where it lives.

What This Means for You

• If you're from a Jesuit-education background, Borja will feel like home. The Dolorosa devotion runs deep in Colegios San Gabriel (Quito), Borja (Cuenca), and their sister institutions across the Andean world.
• If you're new to Cuenca Catholic culture, understanding that the April 20 date carries weight helps explain why Cuenca churches and schools move a little differently in this window than a typical liturgical week.
• Cuenca was founded as a religious city, and many of its oldest institutions — schools, hospitals, churches, universities — are Catholic-anchored. Even if you're not religious, knowing the story makes neighborhood walks make more sense.
• The April 25 alumni gathering is casual and community-rooted. It's not a tourist event. It's people reconnecting. If you respect that register, it's a nice window onto Cuenca.

120 years is a long time for any story to travel. This one still moves through Cuenca every spring.

Source: El Mercurio