Hundreds of Cubans devoted to the Virgin of Charity of Copper They walked this Thursday in a procession through the streets of Havana and other cities on the island, in a tradition that celebrates the festivity of the Patron Saint of Cuba. She was also honored at the Miami Hermitage.
Street processions and masses dedicated to the Virgen del Cobre in the Catholic churches of the Island have taken place once again on this date and, according to a report from Ephmany faithful came this time to express their religiosity with candles, flowers, dressed in some yellow garment.
Yellow is the color that identifies the Virgin, crowned by Pope John Paul II when he was on the island in 1998, and honored by Popes Benedict XVI and Francis during their respective visits to Cuba in 2012 and 2015.
The Cardinal and the Metropolitan Archbishop of Havana, Monsignor Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, led the procession in the neighborhood of Centro Habana in the surroundings of the Nuestra Señora de la Caridad church, where he officiated the mass.
In the prayers, the Cuban cardinal prayed to the Virgin Patron for the families and asked her in particular to encourage the mothers of the prisoners “so that despite the tears they are always on visits and console their children with the hope of that God never abandons his children. He also recalled that “the Pope (Francis) referred yesterday to mothers who suffer (…), sick children, marginalized children, imprisoned children,” he said, quoted by the Spanish agency.
The religious celebration had its origin in the National Sanctuary of the Virgen del Cobre in Santiago de Cuba, where the image that was found in the Bay of Nipe (Antilla) at the beginning of the 17th century is venerated, according to tradition.
According to Catholic legend, the Virgin of Charity appeared in 1612 with a child in her arms floating on a table on which an inscription was read that read: “I am the Virgin of Charity” before three fishermen who were sailing in a boat.
Many devotees travel to the shrine, located about 900 kilometers southeast of Havana, which was declared a National Monument in 2012, to demonstrate their faith with prayers, leave flowers – especially sunflowers – and light a candle when asking for blessings.
party of the #NativityOfMary pic.twitter.com/IHwV5VJ01W
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex_es) September 8, 2022
The temple, which stands on a hill in the small town of El Cobre, receives thousands of pilgrims a year who come to entertain the Virgin, make requests and promises, and deliver their offerings.
There is the so-called “Chapel of Miracles”, the space where the faithful, believers and pilgrims deposit various objects as offerings and testimony of their gratitude for the fulfillment of a promise, from crutches, jewelry, sports uniforms, Olympic prizes, and even the Nobel Prize medal of the American writer Ernest Hemingway or Cuban land that traveled to the cosmos.
La Caridad del Cobre, popularly called “Cachita”, is also recognized as the deity “Ochún” in the Yoruba pantheon of Afro-Cuban syncretic cults (Santeria) and was the “Mambisa Virgin” venerated by Cuban independence fighters during the war against Spain at end of the 19th century, who considered it a symbol of patriotism and identity.
According to historical data, on September 24, 1915, a group of veterans of the war of independence signed a letter addressed to Benedict XV in the Sanctuary of “El Cobre” in which they asked him to proclaim this saint as the patron saint of the Island. and the pontiff made the proclamation on May 10, 1916.
In the Hermitage of Miami
To express their faith in this dedication and as happens every September 8, devotees of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre met this Thursday under the open sky and in the rain at the Ermita de la Caridad, a Catholic temple of the Archdiocese of Miami (Florida) dedicated to the patron saint of Cuba.
After several days of celebrations, which began on August 30, a procession arrived on Thursday at the outer grounds of the Hermitage to the image of the Virgen de la Caridad, a medium-sized sculpture that has also been venerated and sung by mariachis. , according to the Facebook page of the religious institution.
Biden sends a message for the Day of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre
The image of the virgin was placed outdoors in the area of the Malecon that borders the sanctuary and overlooks the waters of Miami’s Biscayne Bay, but a torrential downpour fell while some worshipers stood in the rain.
“Every day we will be reflecting on some of the virtues of the Virgin Mary and the liturgy will be animated by different parishes of the Archdiocese of Miami” indicated the Hermitage in its program of festivities this year.
Efe/OnCuba.
