My grandparents took care of me every single day after school and all through the school holidays, until I was in high school and had to ride a bus home. When I’d want to nap, I wander to the back room of their house to lie down. Perched on top of a dresser in the corner of that room was what I thought was a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary. Standing on a crescent moon, she loomed over a small row boat being tossed on the waves with three sailors aboard, her arms open, a golden halo around her head.
When my grandparents had both passed away, the statue fell into the care of my mother, the only of her siblings who is still a practicing Catholic. A few months ago, I was poking around in the closet of my parents’ guest room looking for photo albums and other trinkets from my childhood when, lo and behold, there she was. My mom told me her name was La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. A mouthful, I know. I had already been thinking about starting this podcast at the time, and decided then and there that I’d have to do an episode about this Patroness Saint of Cuba, who had literally looked down on me most of my life.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation#Biblical_account
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Immaculate-Conception-Roman-Catholicism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation#Biblical_account
http://www.aboutsanteria.com/la-virgen-de-la-caridad-de-cobre.html
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=10996
https://www.catholic.org/mary/appear.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_the_Pillar
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/virgen-of-charity-of-cobre–la-virgen-de-la-caridad-del-cobre-5718
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cobre,Cuba https://repeatingislands.com/2012/05/10/miami-herald-readers-asked-to-share-their-caridad-del-cobre-miracles/ https://repeatingislands.com/2020/09/09/virgen-de-la-caridad-del-cobre-unites-cuba-says-president/ http://www.aboutsanteria.com/la-virgen-de-la-caridad-de-cobre.html https://www.thecubanhistory.com/2020/03/santeria-sincretism-of-ochun-and-the-cuban-virgen-de-la-caridad-del-cobre-santeria-sincretismo-de-ochun-y-la-virgen-de-la-caridad-del-cobre/ http://interfaithmary.net/blog/cuba https://sacredsites.com/americas/cuba/el_cobre_san_lazaro.html “2012.1.25 cuba b 819” by cheeses is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 https://ermita.org/ https://www.facebook.com/standrewcctx/photos/a.494858227622686/888479331593905 https://www.nationalshrine.org/blog/the-guidance-of-our-lady-of-charity/ https://oracionesymilagros.com/algunos-milagros-de-la-virgen-de-la-caridad-conocelos/ https://www.lahabana.com/content/praise-be-to-our-lady-of-charity-la-virgen-de-la-caridad/ https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/us/la-virgen-de-la-caridad-anniversary-celebrated-in-miami.html https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Basilica_of_Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe-_Wiki_Loves_Pyramids_tour_101.jpg
Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2018-12/our-lady-of-guadaloupe-feast-day-mexico-americas.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe#Origin_and_early_history
https://catholicpilgrimagesites.wordpress.com/2015/12/12/the-rose-of-our-lady-of-guadalupe/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_the_Good_Event
https://www.tesorosdelafe.com/articulo-460-maria-del-buen-suceso-quito-ecuador
http://www.divinemysteries.info/our-lady-of-the-rosary-san-nicolas-argentina/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_the_Rosary_of_San_Nicol%C3%A1s#History
http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/messages/sannicolas_messages.html
Resignation by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4276-resignation
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license