Wednesday, 07 September 2011 13:10
The pilgrimage of the Virgin de la Caridad del Cobre through towns and cities. Photo: Courtesy of cjaronu.wordpress.com
Tomorrow, 8 September, Cubans will celebrate the Festival of the Virgin de la Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady of Charity), who we also know as the Virgin Mambisa (she was in the rebel camps during the wars against Spanish colonial rule).
Working close in faith, she pilgrimages throughout nearby towns and areas of the Mayabeque and Artemisa provinces, territories next to the capital that form a part of Havana´s Archdiocese.
The procession began on 8 August, 2010 at the Cobre Shrine, in commemoration of the 2012 400th Anniversary of her apparition in the Nipe Bay.
And those in Havana stand delighted, as this coming 16 November, we will also commemorate 492 years since the founding of the Havana town San Cristóbal, while the Lady Patron of Cuba´s image will be touring around the city between 6 November and 30 December.
All born on the island, believers or not, respect and idolize Chachita, as we affectionately call her; she represents our nation´s history and is a symbol of defiance and independence. As summarized by Cuban historian Calixto Masó, the miraculous advent of the Virgin de la Caridad´s image in 1612 "emphasizes the forming of the nation," and gave a spiritual element needed to complete who we are. She always gives us a clear message of liberty and justice, as well as a clear sign of Cuba, long before we had a national flag and shield. Dominican Paulino Álvarez noted in 1902 that "The Virgin de la Caridad del Cobre will be Cuba´s official patron, so that charity will reign in Cuba; because without charity, there is no union, without union there is no peace and without peace, life is death."
Historically, our Virgin de la Caridad has called on all Cubans, on the island and those in exile. The newspaper Patria, stated in New York in the nineteenth century that "every 10 October, exiled Mambis Catholic women celebrated the annual pilgrimage to ask the Cuban Virgin for independence from the fatherland."
Coincidence or not, the Festival of the Virgin de la Caridad del Cobre is conducted on 8 September, when Afro-Cuban religions also honor their "Orisha," or goddess, Oshún, producing a common-on-the-island perception of the phenomenon of religious syncretism, given the common avatar of Catholic Saints with "Orishas" from beliefs originating in Africa.
If you´re in Havana this 8 September, you will certainly see many people dressed in yellow as the goddess Oshún and in recognition of our tenacious Virgin. And if you visit a temple, you´ll hear all kinds of readings, prayers and chants, with which we venerate Cachita, the Cuban Patroness.
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