The convent of the Contemplative Sisters of the Good Shepherd is a peaceful place. The nuns’ vow of silence imposes a tranquility that allows the birds to be heard at midday. At the entrance to the premises is a room called the locutory, where they welcome their rare visitors, usually their relatives, and it is the only place where they can chat.

This room is decorated with a painting of Jesus with a phrase that could well sum up the daily life of mothers: “Lord, let me discover my solitude so that I can then collaborate with you in the salvation of the world”. A young sister welcomes us with a big smile and explains to us that it is an extraordinary day, since several journalists were interested in making the scarf that President Daniel Noboa will wear during his inauguration on November 23, and it is why they opened the doors of their cloister.

On other days, he says, they can only talk for an hour and a half, at noon, in a space they call recreation. The rest of the time, they speak only what is strictly necessary, concentrating in prayer while carrying out their daily tasks, until 8 p.m. and the hour of great silence begins. Then they closed their mouths sepulchrally until the next day. This environment helps mothers find their solitude.

Mother Superior María Rosa Lema appears at the back of the living room with her white habit and black veil to welcome us. He takes us into another small room, where there is a large door with a sign on the lintel that says “Closing”. “This door is very rarely opened,” he warns us, because this is where the nuns’ cloister begins.

As we yield, a large workshop emerges. On some large tables are the nuns’ confections. There are stoles, which are long garments that priests wear on their shoulders. There are frontals, which are thin cloths that cover church altars. There are clothes for the children Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the saints. There are also national flags and flags of different cities. Everything has manual embroidery.

Mother Enith Pangul proudly shows off the beauties of her profession and stops in front of a front of multicolored flowers. He explains that it is more than 50 years old and was made by the mothers who lived in a convent in La Recoleta, in the historic center of Quito. “For us it is like a treasure because it was made by sisters who are no longer here, they went to the Father’s house.”

We can say that Sister Enith is the memory of the convent, because she knows the history of the congregation very well. He says that the religious community was created in the country in 1871, because the president at the time, Gabriel García Moreno, requested it from this congregation, in Canada. However, he specifies, only the apostolic sisters, who dedicate themselves to being missionaries, came. The contemplatives, who lead a cloistered life and devote themselves to embroidery, arrived four years later, three months after the assassination of García Moreno.

Therefore, although it is said that this community has been making the presidential sash since the presidency of García Moreno, the truth is that there is no evidence that he wore it, says Sister Enith. In fact, there are few records of the groups they created.

Mother María Rosa arrived at the convent in 1981, when President Jaime Roldós Aguilera died in office, and she remembers that she began learning embroidery while her superiors were making Osvaldo Hurtado Larrea’s scarf. He claims that since then they have made the tapes of all the presidents, with the exception of Rosalía Arteaga Serrano, who held office for a few days.

That of the outgoing president, Guillermo Lasso Mendoza, also took place in this community. However, on the day of his inauguration, he preferred to wear another one made by another religious congregation.

Gold is prevalent in the group’s letters and shield that Noboa will carry. The shine is achieved by mixing four different shades of goldworm, which is the name of the thread used for this embroidery.

In normal situations, the nuns take three months to buy this garment, but the political upheavals in the country also put them in difficulty. For this occasion, they had to put together the group in a month. To achieve this, they tripled their resources and efforts. Normally, mothers work four hours a day embroidering, because the shine of the threads quickly tires the eyes. But in recent weeks, eight nuns have taken turns working three days, morning, afternoon and evening.

The value of the group, says mother María Rosa, cannot be known. However, public documents available on the presidency website show that the outgoing president’s amount was around $15,000.

While making their confections, the sisters pray and, to convey their blessings, they also keep relics inside the embroidery. On the band, these are placed under the national shield. Therefore, there is a high relief in the center of it.

For President Noboa, the mothers deposited four relics: of the Peruvian María Agustina Rivas López, who was part of their congregation and was beatified last year; of Saint María Eufracia, founder of the community; of Santa Marianita de Jesus; and Saint John Eudes. Sister Enith emphasizes: “As we take a step, we pray for the one who ordered this work to be done, in this case for the president, that God bless him and give him wisdom to know how to lead the country” . (YO)