Our Lady of Good Success

How Our Lady Gave ‘Good Success’
to the Obregon Brothers

José Muñoz Maldonado, Count of Fabraquer

Note: A reader sent us a link to this Book of Histories of various statues of Spain. It tells of the conversion of the founder of the Minim Order, Ven. Bernadino de Obregón, and describes how the statue was found and how Pope Paul V gave it the name Our Lady of Good Success.

This account was written by the Count of Fabraquer in 1861. We offer it here to our readers and point out the use of the term ”good success” in the context not of the "event" of the Purification, as some are wrongly claiming today, but of a good outcome, or success, for the Obregon Order.

On a winter morning in the year 1567, a gallant young man of age 27, whose chest already bore the red emblem of the Apostle Saint James, was walking down Postas Street in the town of Madrid, where King Philip II's Court was then located. A poor young man was cleaning the mud from the street and unfortunately splashed some on the elegant cabellero. In the first flash of anger that overcame him, the knight struck a hard blow to the face of the street cleaner.

A knight who did great feats in Spain’s wars with Flanders under King Philip II

Without showing any emotion, the young man who had received the insult knelt before his aggressor and said: "I thank you, Sir Knight, for the favor and honor you have bestowed upon me, and never in my life have I felt more honored than now."

The knight, a moment before so proud and haughty, was astonished to witness such humility. He was no longer the same man and, hiding his face in his hands, yielded to the sudden change he felt within himself. He fell to his knees and begged forgiveness from that poor man whose revenge had been humility.

Upon rising to his feet, that brilliant proud knight showed by his pale face and uncertain gait that happiness had fled from him, that the butterfly had lost its wings.

That young man was Don Bernardino de Obregón, who was born in Las Huelgas de Burgos in 1540 into a noble family. He had distinguished himself by his brilliant exploits in the wars of Flanders, and had been decorated by the Order of Santiago. Now, he had come to Court where his merit and comely appearance had won him great favor.

The past, present and future smiled on this youth. The son of rich parents, brave and of noble bearing, there was no whim that crossed his mind that he could not satisfy. In the glittering salons of the Court and among the grandes, where egoism has its throne, everyone rushed to celebrate him and greet him with flattering smiles.

Obregón became the founder of an Order that nursed the sick & poor he had once despised

He was praised for his courage and talent; mothers coveted him for their daughters. Thus, vanity had crept into his heart, and in his pride he considered himself almost a demigod to whom antiquity would have erected altars. Suddenly, his arrogance found itself face to face with the deepest humility. God touched his heart at that moment, and he saw how vain was his grandeur and how unjust his refusal to endure even the slightest offense.

Returning home, he bemoaned his vanity and contemplated the humility of the Redeemer of mankind stretched out on the vile instrument of his torture. He compared the small offense he had suffered and aroused his anger to those that Jesus Christ had suffered for him before reaching the summit of Calvary. It was a grain of sand next to an immense mountain, a drop of water compared to the unfathomable sea!

Obregón had received a religious education from his parents: The divine faith and the celestial hope that they had instilled in his heart had vanished after succumbing in the battle of the most shameful passions, but the pious memories of childhood remained. The example of the humility of the poor man he had offended was enough for those memories to suddenly rise up powerfully, tearing away the dark veil that concealed from his sight the radiant truth and the new mission to which God destined him on this earth.

That man who had rejected the poor and wretched now resolved to dedicate his life to their service, detesting and cursing pride and vanity as the prophets of old cursed the sinful cities. He left his position in the military and gave away his riches, becoming poor to join the ranks of the poor. Humbling his pride, he dedicated himself to serving the sick in the Royal Hospital, submitting his will to that of its administrator, exchanging his finery in which he had once taken such pride for a coarse black sackcloth.

An old biography: The Life & Virtues of the Servant of God Bernadino de Obregón

The sudden change in young Obregón astonished the Court. His zeal found imitators, and the following year, with the permission of the Papal Nuncio, the Archbishop of Toledo and King Philip II, he founded a Congregation, calling his brothers the Franciscan Minims, because of the humility they were to practice in the service of the poor. But the people themselves gave the Order the name of their founder, calling them the Obregones, or Obregon Brothers, a name they have conserved for three centuries. They vowed to God chastity, poverty, obedience and hospitality.

The number of those who came to enlist in the new army of charity grew day by day. Bernardino de Obregón's zeal knew no bounds: He founded convalescent homes, schools for foundlings, several hospitals, including one in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, whose Kingdom King Philip II had added to the Crown of Spain. It was Bernardino de Obregón who the Monarch called to his deathbed to assist him in his last moments in El Escorial, where the King died in 1598.

Bernardino de Obregón, so haughty and proud in his youth, suffered with the greatest patience and humility many hard persecutions, from all of which the hand of the Lord delivered him. To the great sorrow of the Court, so edified by his virtues, he died at age 59 on August 6, 1599, and his body was buried in the General Hospital in Spain, which he had founded.

His Order approved by the Pope

Brother Gabriel de Fontanet, who had succeeded him in the governance of the Congregation, accompanied by Brother Guillermo Rigosa, decided to go to Rome to obtain for their Institute the sanction of the Apostolic See, then occupied by Pope Paul V.

They traveled on foot to Valencia, where their Congregation had a hospital and was highly regarded by the holy Patriarch of that Diocese, Archbishop Don Juan de Rivera. They continued on their journey and, after leaving Traiguera, a town in the jurisdiction of Tortosa along the borders of Catalonia, they lost their way, and a terrible storm surprised them during the night.

The mountains in the distance seen from the medieval town of Traiguera

The rain fell in torrents, the winds raged, terrifying thunder resounded in the hills, and the two pious pilgrims, thinking themselves soon to be victims of the fury of the elements, fervently commended themselves to God. Suddenly, from the light of the flashes, they discovered in that engulfing darkness some overhanging rocks and ran to take refuge there.

From that weak shelter, they then saw a glowing site on a distant hill that at first they thought was but a reflection from the continuous lightning. However, this light remained even after the storm had abated. The climb to the top of that mountain was difficult and arduous, but by taking off their shoes and helping each other, they managed to reach the summit.

In a hollow place inside the rock, they found an exquisitely carved small shrine or chapel, and, as if embedded in the rock face, an image of the Virgin Mary, about half a yard tall. The two Obregón Brothers were astonished, and the words of the Prophet Isaiah came to their minds: Invenerunt qui non quaesierunt me. “I was found by those who did not seek me." (Chap. 65)

Miracles recorded of cures by the miraculous Image of Our Lady of Good Success discovered by the Obregon Brothers

They humbly venerated the image, then contemplated it carefully and saw that it was made of cypress wood. The Virgin held her Divine Son in her left arm and a scepter in her right hand; a beautiful and unusually shaped crown was on her head, she wore and ancient dress of fine fabric and design, with another reserved beside it. On the rock was a lit lamp whose light illuminated the darkest shadows of the cave.

They decided to take the holy image and the extra gown beside it, which is still piously preserved today, and to make her the intercessor for the petition they were bringing to Rome. Thinking that perhaps the holy statue might belong to one of the nearby towns that placed it in that shrine for veneration and not wanting to steal what belonged to another, they remained in the area for several days, cautiously inquiring amongst the oldest inhabitants of the surrounding towns whether anyone knew of the existence of an image of the Virgin, but always keeping their fortunate discovery a secret.

Finally, they surmised that the image found so miraculously was one of those hidden by Spanish Catholics during the sad days of the Arab domination. This belief was confirmed by the ancient dress they had found next to the image, for the Catholics would also hide the ornaments with the statues, as noted by that genius of poets, the great Lope de Vega:

They enclose the images,
and hide them in the countryside,
With their sacred ornaments,
While from their faces,
They are banished with tears.

(Las imágenes encierran,Y en las campañas las cierran Con los ornamentos sacros, Mientras de sus simulacros Con lágrimas se destierran)

The Statue receives her name

The two Brothers made a wicker basket and lined it with buckram. In it they placed the holy image and took turns carrying on their backs, never leaving it for even a moment until they arrived in Rome.

They presented themselves to kiss the foot of Pope Paul V, who, seeing the so carefully tended basket, curiously asked them what was in it. They told the Pope about their miraculous discovery of the Holy Virgin, to whom they had entrusted the good success of their intentions, which they humbly exposed to him.

Pope Paul V puts the purple cross on the statue & names her Our Lady of Good Success

They took the holy image out of the basket, and Paul V, admiring her beauty, venerated her and, taking a gold cross with purple enamel from around his neck, placed it on the statue. Then he told them that they should take her as the special patroness of their Institute and Congregation, and gave to her the name of Our Lady of Good Success because of the fortunate outcome of their endeavors.

He granted many indulgences to this Virgin, and in memory of the gilded enamel cross he had placed upon her, he authorized the Brothers of the Congregation he had just approved to wear a purple cloth cross on their black habits.

Joyful and content, Brothers Fontanet and Rigosa returned to Spain, heading once again to Valencia, because the Pope had entrusted to Archbishop and Patriarch Don Juan de Rivera the organization of the Congregation, which was now established as a Religious Order. Along the way they revisited the place where, on a night of a terrible storm, they had found the miraculous image that had brought such success to their mission.

The plague was then ravaging the city of Valencia, and the Brothers found a vast field in which to exercise their zeal and ardent charity. Of the thirteen Minim or Obregon Brothers who were there, nine had succumbed to the contagion while caring for the poor and infirm.

Indulgence given in 1760 for reciting a Hail Mary before the statue & making Acts of Faith, Hope & Charity

Archbishop Don Juan Rivera delayed as long as he could the implementation of the Pope's bull and the presentation of the purple cross to Brothers Fontanet and Rigosa, because he wanted to keep them near him as long as possible. He tried to persuade them to settle in Valencia so that the center and head of the new Hospital Order would reside there.

But Brother Gabriel de Fontanet did not consider this advisable and left with his companion for Madrid. There they placed their image of Our Lady of Good Success on an altar in one of the rooms of the General Hospital, and they wore their habits and purple crosses for the first time on Corpus Christi Day in the year 1610.

Our Lady of Good Success remained in the General Hospital of Madrid until the Obregon Brothers in charge of the Royal Hospital of the Court transferred her to its infirmary. This is the hospital which was located in Puerta del Sol and sadly was demolished to make way for the expansion of the Plaza.

The body of Ven. Bernadino de Obregón was first interred in a vault of the General Hospital when it was located at San Jerónimo Street, which was originally a shrine founded by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella for the relief and treatment of sick soldiers. Emperor Charles V expanded it in 1529 and established it as the Royal Hospital of Corle for the treatment of soldiers and employees of his royal household.

King Philip II, so knowledgeable and skilled in architecture, rebuilt the Hospital on the Puerta del Sol in Madrid in 1587. He personally designed the plan of the small church, which was cruciform and of regular shape, will pillars and a dome in the center proportionate to the building. Philip III dedicated this church on July 6, 1611, with the attendance of Queen Margaret and the entire Court.

At that time, the statue of Our Lady of Good Success, which had previously been in the infirmary, was placed in the a chapel of the church.

The first statue in Madrid; below each year in October
to commemorate the finding she is processed
through the streets of Madrid

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Adapted from José Muñoz Maldonado, Historia, tradiciones y leyendas
de las imágenes de la Virgen aparecidas en España, 1, Madrid,
Impr. y Litografía de D. Juan José Martínez, 1861, pp. 511-522
Posted January 30, 2026