Cubans celebrate the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Patron Saint of Cuba

Havana, September 8. -Cubans today celebrate the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Patron Saint of Cuba, a solemn appointment proclaimed by Pope Benedict XV in 1916, at the request of the veterans of the War of Independence.

The Holy Father Pius XI authorized the canonical coronation of the sacred image, and on the morning of December 20, 1936, the ceremony was performed by the then Bishop of Santiago de Cuba, Monsignor Valentín Zubizarreta.

Later, in homage to the Cuban people during his visit to the island in 1998, Saint John Paul II crowned and blessed the image of the Patron Saint of Cuba during the third Mass celebrated here, which was held in Antonio Maceo Square in Santiago de Cuba.

This Pope called for us to never forget the great events related to Charity and recalled the unique place that the Virgin Mary, to whom Saint John Paul II himself was a devotee, holds in the Church's mission.

The feast day of the image is commemorated on September 8, the birth and nativity of the Virgin Mary. She is also known as Our Lady of Charity of Cobre or simply Cachita.

According to contemporary accounts, this icon appeared in 1612 or early 1613 in Nipe Bay, the largest bay on the island. It was sighted by three men: a 10-year-old Black boy (Juan Moreno) and two brothers of pure Indian blood (Juan and Rodrigo de Hoyos), who worked as slaves in the region's copper mines. The trio was baptized in Cuban imagery as "the three Juans."

The young people who went to look for salt saw the image of the Virgin holding the Child Jesus in her arms—the same object of veneration among Cubans—floating closer on a board, on which could be read the phrase “I am the Virgin of Charity.”

Today, visitors to the sanctuary often return home with tiny stones gleaming with the copper from the mine. It is said that those who keep them enjoy special protection and a noble future for themselves and their families.

The National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre is one of the most venerated religious sites by the Cuban people; the faithful, arriving from different parts of the nation, seek spiritual solace in the Patron Saint of Cuba, seeking solutions to their longings and problems that affect human beings.

This chapel was inaugurated on September 8, 1927, and has a solid silver altar and other valuable ornamental objects.

Beneath the Virgin's Shrine is the Chapel of Miracles, where believers place various offerings, such as gold and precious stone jewelry, amulets, and other valuables. About 500 people visit the site every day.

Nobel Prize winner for Literature Ernest Hemingway presented the medal that granted this high honor to the venerated Patron Saint of Cuba and recognized this act as recognition to the Cuban people, who inspired his work "The Old Man and the Sea," for which he received the highest literary award in Stockholm.

Oshun, an orisha of the Afro-Cuban religion of Yoruba origin venerated in Santeria, is syncretized with the Virgin of Charity of Cobre.

This deity brought from Africa rules fresh waters, streams, springs, and rivers.

The feast of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre and the celebration of Oshun are celebrated in Cuba on September 8 under the same festival, on the occasion of the transculturation and religious syncretism between the Catholic religion and the Yoruba that happened in the Cuban population. (PL) (Photo: Digital)