Saints of September 8: Virgin of Charity of Cobre

Every September 8, the day when the Church celebrates the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Cubans have an additional reason to be happy and grateful: the Church in Latin America and Spain commemorates the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, patron saint of Cuba.

In addition, “Cachita” – as her devotees affectionately call her – is also considered the patron saint of Azanos, Tenerife, Gallegos and Barlovento (Canary Islands); and Muras, Province of Lugo, Galicia (mainland Spain).

The Republic of Cuba at the feet of the Virgin Mary

“My greeting to the children of Cuba who, anywhere in the world, venerate the Virgin of Charity; “Together with all her brothers who live in this beautiful land, I place them under her maternal protection, asking Her, loving Mother of all, to reunite her children through reconciliation and fraternity”; With these beautiful words, Saint John Paul II paid tribute to the Mother of God in one of his historic speeches delivered during his visit to the Island in 1998.

Those were times when the communist dictatorship headed by President Fidel Castro allowed the Supreme Pontiff to set foot on Cuban soil and make millions of Catholics on the island feel that they were not alone.

“I am the Virgin of Charity” (the story)

History says that, at some point between the years 1612 and 1613, three children, between nine and ten years old – two of them brothers of indigenous race and the other of black race – embarked on a voyage from Cayo Francés (island small off the east coast of Cuba) in the direction of Nipe Bay, with the purpose of collecting salt. Their names were Juan de Hoyos, Rodrigo de Hoyos and Juan Moreno, traditionally known as “the three juanes” (the three were slaves and worked in the copper mines).

During the journey, the three children saw a white object floating on the sea foam. From a distance, none of them could make out what it was. However, as they approached, they saw that it was an image of the Virgin Mary, with the Child Jesus in her arms, floating on a tablet on which it was written: “I am the Virgin of Charity.”

The little ones took the image with them and took it back to the mines where they worked. There, the administrator of the so-called Término Real de Minas de Cobre ordered the construction of a hermitage where the image would be preserved and appointed Rodrigo de Hoyos as the chaplain of the sanctuary.

One night, Rodrigo, on one of his usual walks, realized that the image was not inside the hermitage. So, the locals organized an intense search, but could not find the image.

The next morning, without further explanation, the Virgin was on her usual altar, inside the hermitage. Everything looked as usual. Those who remained in the vicinity were completely surprised because the door to the compound had been properly closed the night before. To greater surprise, the event happened again the next night and the following night. And so on, for several more days.

Then the residents came to this conclusion: the Virgin, suddenly, did not want her image to remain there, but rather to be taken to another place. It was then decided to take her in procession to the Cobre Parish Temple, where she would be received with joy by the residents. And it was like this, almost unintentionally, that the Mother began to be called the “Virgin of Charity of Copper.”

The image would not stay for long in the Cobre Parish Temple either. Suddenly, the mysterious disappearances began to occur again, which made the majority think that the Virgin had to be moved again.

During those days, coincidentally, a rumor began to circulate among the townspeople. This gave an account of the testimony of a girl named Apolonia, who would have had a vision of the Mother of God. Apolonia had seen the Virgin of Charity on the top of one of the mountains near the copper mines.

Then it was decided that the image would be taken to the mountainous part.

Historical epilogue

This story is based on the testimony of Don Juan Moreno – one of the three children who found the image of the Virgin -, who granted it in 1687, seventy-five years after what happened off the coast of Cayo Francés. This declaration is preserved in the Archives of the Indies, in Seville, Spain. Juan gave his testimony when he was 85 years old, as the only survivor of the famous discovery at sea.

Regarding the origin of the image of the Virgin, historical data suggest – there is no absolute certainty – that it was King Philip II who commissioned it to be brought to the Island in the hands of Francisco Sánchez de Moya, a Spanish soldier. In those times, pirates stalked royal ships and the image may have been lost in a shipwreck, and later found by the “three Juanes.” The king’s wish would have been to erect a sanctuary in the mountains of Cuba and place the image there, as would ultimately happen.

Cuban identity, Marian identity

During the Cuban independence wars (1895-1898), devotion to the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre grew among independence soldiers. The troops used to entrust the fight to this devotion and every victory was offered in her honor. The veterans of the independence struggle, in 1915, asked the Pope to declare the Virgin of Charity of Cobre as Patroness of Cuba. In 1916, Pope Benedict XV accepted the request and established the central holiday every September 8.

The sanctuary where the holy image is preserved today was inaugurated on September 8, 1927, and in 1977 Pope Saint Paul VI elevated the site to the dignity of a Basilica. On January 24, 1998, the Virgin of Charity was crowned “Queen and Patroness of Cuba” by Saint John Paul II during his apostolic visit to the island.