Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre

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Pilgrimage Church of El Cobre

The Merciful Virgin of Cobre ( span: Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre ) is a wooden figure of saint venerated since 1612 and the most important object of pilgrimages in Cuba . It was founded in 1916 by Pope Benedict XV. Declared the Cuban patron saint , after having been the patron saint and symbol of Cuban identity since the beginning of the Cuban uprising against Spanish colonial rule in 1868, which earned her the nickname "La Mambisa" - Mambí was the name for rebellious Cubans.

history

The Merciful Virgin of Cobre (plaster copy)
Merciful Virgin in the Sanctuary

The legend of the saint's figure in 1612 of three hunters (the two brothers Juan and Rodrigo de Hoyos and Juan Moreno, two Indians and a black slave then ten years) was in the Bay of Nipe found. They had been sent from the cattle farm in Barajagua inland to supply salt for meat preservation from a salt works on the island of Cayo Francés in the bay. The figure was later taken to El Cobre , the center of the royal copper mining industry, which owned the cattle estate.

The pilgrimage church was built in 1686. On August 12, 1898, the last day of the Spanish-American War , a service of thanksgiving was held for the liberation from Spanish colonial rule. Finally in 1915 the veterans of the War of Liberation asked Pope Benedict XV. about declaring the Blessed Virgin of El Cobre the patron saint of Cuba. Pope John Paul II crowned and blessed them during his 1998 visit to Cuba. As a symbol of Cuban nationality, it is now also respected by many non-believers. On March 27, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI. the Virgin of El Cobre on the four hundredth anniversary of the anniversary of her discovery a golden rose during his pilgrimage to Cuba.

The pilgrimage church with its richly decorated saint figure is located between Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo in the Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba in the province of Santiago de Cuba next to a copper mine (Spanish: cobre = copper). The church houses an impressive collection of votive offerings, most of which, but not exclusively, have a religious background; u. a. You can also find Ernest Hemingway's Nobel Prize medal here . Another church with the patronage is the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin of Cobre in Havana.

The patron saint is venerated by both Catholics and the syncretistic Santería religion. In the Santería, she is called Ochún and is the goddess of rivers and love. The feast of the Virgen de la Caridad is celebrated in Cuba on September 8th, on the feast of the birth of the Virgin Mary ; on the same date, followers of Afro-Cuban religions celebrate their Orisha Ochún.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba: Breve cronología sobre la Virgen de la Caridad on the official website Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre , accessed on December 5, 2011 (Spanish)

Web links

Coordinates: 20 ° 3 ′ 2.5 ″  N , 75 ° 56 ′ 56.4 ″  W.