What does the 1869 Constituent Assembly (CA) tell us about the character of constitutional instability in postcolonial Ecuador? In this chapter I argue that an analysis of the 1869 discourse of messianic leadership offers us important insights relevant to my research question. The 1869 CA sanctioned a Catholic constitution proposed by President García Moreno. After the 1859–1861 civil war, this leader initiated the construction of the modern state. The chapter’s analysis focuses on the 1869 debates on rebellions, Catholicism, and labour relations. These topics help us to understand how the messianic longing for García Moreno’s leadership contributes to our psychoanalytic understanding of constitutional instability in Ecuador. The link between rebellions against the constitution and the yearning for a ‘strong’ leader is explored and discussed with reference to a Lacanian approach to the grip of ideology. In particular, I emphasize how the beatific dimension of fantasy (i.e., concerning the Messiah) as well as the notions of heroic identification and a diminished paternal imago shed light on Ecuador’s constitutional volatility. In doing so, I argue that Ecuador’s postcolonial history of violence prompted the support of a messianic leader in 1869, a Catholic lawgiver whose persona blended with the aspiration of stability.