Cuba Marks 110 Years of Our Lady of Charity as National Patroness

This year, Cuba commemorates 110 years since Pope Benedict XV officially declared Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre as the nation's Patroness. The Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops highlighted this anniversary with a special publication on their official site.

The proclamation was made on May 10, 1916, through a pontifical rescript, following a formal request from veterans of the Liberation Army, including Generals Jesús Rabí and Agustín Cebreco. These veterans petitioned the Holy See on September 24, 1915, emphasizing the protection the Virgin provided to the mambises during the independence wars.

The year 2026 holds additional significance as the date coincided with Mother's Day in Cuba. The bishops described it as "a beautiful connection between faith, history, and the maternal love with which Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre has guided all the children of this land, weaving our deepest hopes, providing balm for the most intimate wounds, and sheltering us under her unifying mantle."

The Origins of Devotion to "Cachita"

Devotion to "Cachita," as Cubans affectionately call her, dates back to around 1612 or early 1613. Her image appeared floating in Nipe Bay, in what is now Holguín province, to three young men known as "the three Juanes": indigenous brothers Juan and Rodrigo de Hoyos, and a black boy named Juan Moreno.

According to tradition, the roughly 40-centimeter-tall image remained dry despite the storm, bearing the inscription: "I am the Virgin of Charity."

This account is supported by a sworn testimony Juan Moreno provided in 1687, at the age of 85, as the sole surviving witness of the discovery. This document is preserved in the General Archive of the Indies in Seville.

The Virgin's Role in Cuban Identity

Since then, the image was moved to the El Cobre Sanctuary, located on Maboa Hill, 27 kilometers from Santiago de Cuba, where it remains today and has been honored by successive popes.

The mambises invoked her on the battlefields, many carrying her image as a symbol of hope, creating an inseparable link between the Virgin and national identity.

Syncretism and Global Devotion

The devotion extends beyond Catholicism; in Cuban Santería, known as Regla de Ocha, Our Lady of Charity is syncretized with Ochún, the Yoruba deity of freshwaters, love, and fertility, whose sacred color is golden yellow.

This syncretism emerged during colonial slavery when Yoruba Africans concealed their orishas under Catholic images to evade Spanish prohibitions.

In exile, the devotion found its most visible expression at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami, built between 1967 and 1973 along Biscayne Bay by the Cuban exile community, with stained glass windows symbolically oriented towards Cuba.

Every September 8, the liturgical feast of the Virgin, processions and celebrations occur throughout Cuba and the diaspora, especially in Miami, where thousands of Cubans honor their patroness with flowers, candles, and yellow clothing.

A poem published by the Diocese of Holguín for the anniversary concludes with a plea encapsulating centuries of Cuban faith: "If at once the sad we plead: Save Cuba! We know that one day / you will make grace recover, / with your love, with your peace, with your guidance."