400 years: Believers pay tribute to patron saint La Caridad del Cobre

Posted on Saturday, 09.08.12

LA CARIDAD DEL COBRE

400 years: Believers pay tribute to patron saint La Caridad del Cobre
By Michael Vasquez
mrvasquez@MiamiHerald.com

For 400 years, La Caridad del Cobre — the patron saint of Cuba — has
been on the receiving end of all kinds of prayers. Through moments of
joy or deep despair, an island and its people found peace through The
Virgin of Charity.

"We love Cachita," Archbishop Thomas Wenski, referring to the saint's
nickname, told a packed house of worshipers at the American Airlines
Arena Saturday evening. A statue of the saint was placed prominently a
few feet in front of the archbishop — something only possible after the
statue made a celebratory birthday voyage, by boat through Biscayne Bay,
from its usual home in Coconut Grove.

The water journey was key, as it was exactly 400 years ago that the
image of Cachita was said to appear to three men (all named Juan) in a
boat in Cuba's eastern Bay of Nipe. One of the men had been wearing a
medal of the Virgin Mary, and the men prayed to Mary for protection as
they were caught in a vicious storm.

The "Virgin of Charity" that saved the men became a symbol of the Virgin
Mary and God's love, but also an integral part of Cuban identity. These
days, for Cuban exiles living in the U.S., praying to Cachita is both a
spiritual exercise as well as a way of connecting with a homeland they
were forced to flee.

"It is a big thing if you are a Cuban, and you are a Catholic," said
Yanin Salem, a 58-year-old Havana native who now lives in Aventura. "I
always pray to her."

At La Ermita de la Caridad shrine in Coconut Grove, hundreds of
worshipers gathered to pray before the statue just before it was placed
on the boat bound for downtown Miami. Many showed up wearing yellow —
the saint's color — and some offered flowers (typically yellow
sunflowers) that were placed in a corner of the shrine. This
ever-growing mountain of flowers topped four feet in height.

Shrieks of delight greeted the statue as it emerged — atop a bed of
peach roses — and was ceremonially carried to the bay. A priest led
prayers through a megaphone, as whole families galloped around the
property in order to get a better view.

Yanessy Santiago of Miami came to the shrine simply to say thank you.
The 23-year-old carried her newborn son Rey — a child who was almost
lost to medical complications.

Santiago credited her prayers to Cachita for allowing her to bear a
child, just as those prayers had allowed herself to be born twenty-three
years ago. Santiago said her mother had struggled for a long time to
conceive, but Cachita finally intervened.

"Because of her, I'm here, I'm alive," Santiago said, before becoming
teary-eyed with emotion. "My mom prayed and prayed to her, and I was born."

Santiago's husband, Juan, said the saint holds such a prominent place
for Cuban Americans that it is common to hear her name — no matter what
the situation. If you win the lottery, you'll say her name, and if you
crash your car, chances are you'll say it too.

"I umpire for afternoons, youth baseball," he said. "You will hear the
coaches, ' Virgencita de la Caridad! These kids are driving me nuts!"'

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/07/2989937/400-years-believers-pay-tribute.html