The Myth Behind La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre

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The Myth Behind La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre

To many Cuban-Americans living in Miami, La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, is one of the only ties remaining that unifies them with their homeland. The Virgin is a renowned and integral part of Cuban culture and plays an important role in the Catholic heritage of Cubans exiled inside and outside of North America. The church, La Ermita de la Caridad del Cobre, is a memorial that was constructed in honor of her and is a monument to the religious and political history of the island. Since there are many different versions circulating about the sighting of the Virgin, one must discuss the most popular and the most commonly accepted.

The myth behind the La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, originated in 1606. The Virgin appeared one day in the Bay of Nipe near Santiago to two brothers, Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos, and to Juan Moreno,a black boy roughly ten years of age. They were out on a fishing trip in the Bay. While struggling in their storm tossed boat, they heard a voice declare, "I am the Virgin of Charity." In one hand, the Virgin carried a mulatto baby Jesus; in the other, she held a cross. She also appeared to be holding a tablet which contained the inscription, "I am the Virgin of Charity." A replica of the same tablet is now framed and displayed on the first floor of La Ermita in Santiago de Cuba.

In Cuba, there is also a statue of the Virgin, approximately one meter tall, located in a small chapel on the second floor. The statue is of a pretty mulatta who wears dangling earrings and a golden robe. La Virgen's racial attributes is a mixture of black, white and Indian; essentially, it covers the entire racial makeup of Cuba. She has dark hair and carries the baby Jesus in one hand and a cross in the other. People flock to her memorial to pray to her and give her thanks. They often leave small tokens of their appreciation and gratitude. To the exile community, she represents a Catholic Cuba untouched by the religious beliefs of the communist regime of he last four decades.

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