Our Lady of Charity

Our Lady of Charity (

Various similar Marian images can be found in Cuba, France, Italy, Mexico, the Philippines, Malta, Spain and the United States of America.

Cuba

According to old documents found in the General Archive of the Indies (Seville), the arrival of the image of the Virgin of Charity to the mountains of the Sierra del Cobre, in Cuba, took place when an Illescan, Francisco Sánchez de Moya, captain of artillery, received on May 3, 1597 a mandate from King Philip II of Spain to go to the mines of the Sierra del Cobre to defend those coasts from the attacks of English pirates.

The king commissioned him to build a small church, a place where soldiers and miners could go to commend themselves and pray to the venerated image of the Virgen de la Caridad. Before leaving for the New World, this captain had a replica of the Virgin of Charity carved in Toledo, which he took by sea to the island.

Local legend recalls the Spanish captains who bring with them religious Marian images to guide and protect them from English pirates at sea. Two Native American or Indian brothers, Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos, and an African slave child, Juan Moreno, set out to the Bay of Nipe for salt.^[1] They are traditionally given the moniker the "three Juans". They needed the salt for the preservation of the meat at the Barajagua slaughter house, which supplied the workers and inhabitants of Santiago del Prado, now known as El Cobre. While out in the bay, a storm arose, rocking their tiny boat violently with incoming waves. Juan, the child, was wearing a medal with the image of the Virgin Mary. The three men began to pray for her protection. Suddenly, the skies cleared, and the storm was gone. In the distance, they saw a strange object floating in the water. They rowed towards it as the waves carried it to them. At first they mistook it for a bird, but quickly saw that it was what seemed to be a statue of a girl. At last they were able to determine that it was a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus on her left arm and a gold cross in her right hand. The statue was fastened to a board with an inscription saying "Yo Soy la Vírgen de la Caridad" or "I am the Virgin of Charity". Much to their surprise, the statue remained completely dry while afloat in the water.

Overjoyed by what they had discovered, they hurried back to Barajagua. They showed the statue to a government official, Don Francisco Sánchez de Moya, who then ordered a small chapel to be built in her honor. One night, Rodrigo went to visit the statue, but discovered that the image was gone. He organized a search party, but had no success in finding Our Lady of Charity. Then, the next morning, she was back on the altar, as if nothing had happened. This was inconceivable as the chapel had been locked. This event happened three times. The people of Barajagua came to the conclusion that she wanted to be in a different spot, so they took her to El Cobre. She was received with much joy in El Cobre, and the church there had its bells ring on her arrival. It was at this point that she became known as "Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre" or "Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre". Much to the dismay of people in El Cobre, the disappearance of the statue continued to happen.^[2]

One day, a young girl named Jabba was playing outside, pursuing butterflies and picking flowers. She went towards the mountains of the Sierra Maestra, where she came across the statue on top of a small hill. There were those who did and those who did not believe the little girl's testimony, but in the end, the Virgin was taken to the spot of her discovery, where a church was erected for her.^[2]

Before the famous image on 19 May 1801, a royal edict from King Charles IV of Spain decreed that Cuban slaves were to be freed from the El Cobre copper mines.^{[citation needed]} The story circulated around the island quickly. Many felt that the Virgin purposely chose to have her sanctuary in El Cobre because it is located in Oriente Province. Later folk legends associated the taking of copper materials to their homes after having it blessed near the Virgin's sanctified image as a form of souvenir and miraculous healing.

The statue stands on a pedestal behind glass above the altar in the El Cobre basilica. The color yellow is associated with the Virgin of Charity, and her shrines are often filled with yellow flowers.[5]

A chapel of Our Lady of Charity exists within the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.^[4][6]

Pontifical approbations

Cuban revolutionary leader

• Pope Benedict XV declared Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre Patroness of Cuba via a decree signed on 10 May 1916 at the written request of the soldier veterans of the Cuban War of Independence.^[4][7]
• Eucharistic Congress at Santiago de Cuba on 20 December 1936 by Monsignor
  Valentin Zubizarreta y Unamunsaga.
• minor basilica on 22 December 1977 through the appointed Papal legate Cardinal Bernardin Gantin.^[8]
• Pope John Paul II solemnly crowned the image again during his Apostolic Visit on 24 January 1998.^[9]
• Pope Benedict XVI awarded a Golden Rose in honor of the image and her shrine on 27 March 2012.
• Pope Francis enshrined a brass statue given to Pope Benedict XVI by Cuban bishops (in May 2008) within the Gardens of Vatican City in August 2014, then enshrined in 2016 at the 13th slot.^[10]

Cuban national identity

The Virgin is one of the island's most treasured figures, representing hope and salvation in the face of misfortune.

Pope John Paul II

On his Apostolic Visit to Cuba in 24 January 1998, Pope John Paul II declared the following:

As we remember these aspects of the mission of the Church, let us give thanks to God, who has called us to be part of it. In it, the Virgin Mary occupies a singular place. An expression of this is the Coronation of the venerated image of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre. Cuban history is dotted with marvelous expressions of love for her Patroness, at whose feet the figures of the humble natives, two Indians and a dark-haired man, symbolize the rich plurality of this people. El Cobre, where her Sanctuary is located, was the first place in Cuba where freedom for slaves was won.^[14]

Pope Francis

On his Apostolic Visit to Cuba in 22 September 2015, Pope Francis declared the following:

The

Blessed Virgin Mary has accompanied the history of the Cuban people, sustaining the hope which preserves people's dignity in the most difficult situations and championing the promotion of all that gives dignity to the human person. The growing devotion to the Virgin is a visible testimony of her presence in the soul of the Cuban people …. I will have occasion to go to El Cobre, as a son and pilgrim.^[5]

In the Marian year of 1954, American author Ernest Hemingway gifted his Nobel Prize in Literature medal for The Old Man and the Sea to Marian image at the shrine of Caridad del Cobre in Cuba.^[15]

The medal was stolen in 1986 and was recovered days later upon the threat of Raúl Castro that it be returned or the thieves suffer the consequences.^[16][17]

After its return, it was for some time, hidden from view. The medal is now stored within the treasury vault of the backside of the church building and is very rarely present in the image. It is only worn during solemn and Pontifical occasions.

France

The

There was a pilgrimage chapel of Our Lady of Charity near Sainte Laurent sur la Plaine which was destroyed by order of the French revolutionary government in 1791. Shortly afterward, a Marian apparition was reported to be seen on the ruined altar and in a nearby oak tree.^[18] This set off more pilgrimages and became part of the unrest leading up to the War in the Vendée. Today, a small one is on the altar in the newly restored church.

Italy

A namesake image of this

An earlier image of Our Lady of Charity predating and sourcing the Cuban image is venerated in the town of

The venerated

Philippines

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Minor Basilica

on 19 February 1997.

In the Philippines, Our Lady of Charity is known by its Spanish predecessor, the original Our Lady of Lacara (1494),^[citation needed] later known in Ilocano as Apo Caridad (English: Mistress of Charity)^{[citation needed]}. The Marian title is a replica of the older Marian image that has been long venerated in Toledo, Spain.^{[citation needed]}

• Bantay, Ilocos Sur.^{[citation needed}
  ]
• Another image of Our Lady of Charity is also enshrined within the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Charity in
  Minor Basilica via his Pontifical decree Signum illud Sanctuariumque on 15 July 1982.^[21]

• Cartagena
• Villarrobledo
• Illescas
• Loja and The Garrovilla
• Cam arena

The Philippines

• Quezon City, Metro Manila
• Agoo, La Union (Minor Basilica)
• Bantay, Ilocos Sur

United States of America

• Miami, Florida
• Cicero, Illinois
• Buffalo, New York

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Our Lady of Charity.

• Virgin of Charity, El Cobre
• Pope Francis Sends Message to Cuba on Patroness' Feast Day
• Our Lady of Charity – Official Web Site – Cuban Catholic Church
• La Ermita de la Caridad Archived 2016-08-08 at the Wayback Machine