Like every December 17, the island’s believers honor Saint Lazarus on Friday, syncretized with Babalú Ayé in Afro-Cuban religions, in the sanctuary of The corner, in the province of Havana.
Pattern the sick and the poor, his cult has been increasing in recent times. This year of extreme crisis, of course, the saint has grown underdogs to protect. All Cubans are vulnerable in Cuba today.
The temple where Saint Lazarus is honored has been heavily guarded by police and military personnel since the day before.
And as a mirror of the repression suffered by the island’s citizens since the protests of July 11, the temple where Saint Lazarus is honored was heavily guarded the day before by police and military personnel.
The atmosphere is not for many celebrations. Unlike other years, there are no festivals in the houses or the traditional allegorical costumes with which the saint is celebrated. “By December 4, Santa Bárbara, not even the drums sounded,” says a neighbor from Old Havana who, unlike other times, did not make a pilgrimage to El Rincón due to lack of transportation. “As I don’t go in the saint’s car,” he says humorously, pointing to a young man who, with a stone tied to his foot, is dragging an effigy of Saint Lazarus down the street, hunting for some foreign exchange alms in the streets. more tourist in the city that can help pay its “promise”.
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