MIAMI, United States. — May 10, 1916 Our Lady of Charity of El Cobreor Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, was declared Patron Saint of Cuba by Pope Benedict XV.
It is a little known event, but at the same time of great relevance for Cubans, who have Cachita as rector and spiritual guide of the destinies of the nation.
The appointment of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre as Patron Saint of Cuba dates back to September 24, 1915, when Major General Jesús Rabí, on behalf of the veterans of the Liberation Army, asked the Church to proclaim the Virgin of La Caridad del Cobre as heavenly patron saint of the young Cuban republic.
Archives of the Archdiocese of Miami They say that at dawn that day more than 2,000 mambises on horseback flooded the streets and the sanctuary to celebrate the Holy Mass in the House of the Mother of all Cubans.
“The generals had the honor of sitting near the Virgin in the presbytery and there, from the pulpit, General Padró Griñán read, on behalf of all the veterans of the War of Independence, the request addressed to Pope Benedict XV.”
In 1916, Benedict XV responded to the request of the mambises by solemnly recognizing and declaring the patronage of Santa María de la Caridad.
The Virgin in recent history
Twenty years later, Pope Pius XI authorized the canonical coronation of the sacred image. On December 20, 1936, a huge crowd gathered in what was then Alameda Michaelsen to celebrate the Eucharistic Congress in Santiago de Cuba and the solemn Coronation of the Image of the Virgen de la Caridad.
“It was the largest Catholic public act held until then in Cuba. More than one hundred thousand people, an extraordinary number for the time, witnessed with emotion when Monsignor Valentín Zubizarreta placed on the heads of the images of the Mother and the Son, the beautiful crowns of gold and precious stones, a gift from the grateful devotees of the Virgin ” .
It should be noted that the request that the Cuban episcopate had sent to Pope Pius XI was answered in a long approving document signed, on behalf of the pontiff, by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, future Pope Pius XII.
But the link between the Vatican and the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre does not end there, since the National Sanctuary of the Virgen del Cobre was elevated to a Basilica by the Holy See, specifically by Pope Paul VI. On his behalf, Cardinal Gantín traveled to the Island to consecrate the new minor basilica.
It should be noted that the last three popes have been next to the image of the Virgen de la Caridad. Saint John Paul II crowned her in Santiago de Cuba during his pastoral visit to the Island in 1998; Benedict XVI visited her sanctuary in 2012, prayed in front of the blessed image and presented her with the Golden Rose, an extraordinary distinction that the Church grants to places of exception; while in 2015, the current Pope Francis, who celebrated the Eucharist in the Basilica del Cobre, prayed and lovingly caressed the blessed image and left her a beautiful silver vase with porcelain flowers as an ex-voto.
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