U.S. Catholic, Sep2011, Vol. 76 Issue 9, p55-56, 2p, 1 Illustration found on p55
La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, also know as Our lady
of charity, has been named the patron saint
of Cuba, and for good reason. In 1632, three men from Barajuana set out on the
Bay of Nipe in El Cobre, to gather salt needed to preserve the meat in the
town's slaughter house. Two of the men were brothers,
Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos and the third
was an African slave boy named Juan Moreno.
After
collecting the salt, the men were sailing back to El Cobre in the middle of the
bay when a fierce storm hit, violently rocking their small boat. Juan, who was
wearing a medallion with the image of the Virgin Mary, began to pray to her for
protection and the two brothers quickly joined in. Then suddenly, out of
nowhere, the skies cleared and the waves calmed. The storm had completely
stopped and in the distance the men could see what looked like a wooden board
floating on the water with a sea bird resting on top.
As they
paddled closer they realize that it wasn’t a sea bird at all, but a small
statue of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus in her left arm and a gold cross
in her right. Inscribed on the wooden
board were the words “Yo la Virgen de la
Caridad” or “I am the Virgin of Charity”. To their surprise, neither the board or statue appeared wet. The men
recovered the board and statue and brought it back to their town of Barajuana,
where government officials built a small church where she was kept.
On
multiple occasions the statue would disappear only to show up again in its
original spot the next day, which mesmerized locals, as the church had been
completely locked up. They took these disappearances as a sign and eventually
moved her back to the spot of her discovery in el Cobre where she was welcomed at the
local church with open arms.
The disappearances
continued in el Cobre until one day instead of turning up back at the church,
she was discovered on a mountain side by a little girl who had been playing in
the fields. A new church was then created in this spot and is where the statue
remains to this day.
Liguori. Mary Throughout Latin America. MO: Liguori Publications, 2005.
Researched by Mary T. Landry
Our lady of Charity Church: El Cobre, Cuba
Prayer:
Our Lady of Charity, we joyfully venerate you as patroness of Cuba.
May we boldly take your name and message to the world,
so that the gospel will be announced to all men and women.
Amen.
