The Virgin of Charity of Cobre is a figure revered throughout Cuba as the patron saint of the Island and a symbol rooted in the country’s cultural and religious identity. Her story is intertwined with the history of Cuba itself and has influenced the lives of Cubans for centuries.
Today, the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre continues to be venerated on the Island and by the Cuban-American community in the United States. Her image is found in countless homes and temples, and her festival is held on September 8 every year.
This date is celebrated with fervor every year throughout the country, with thousands of pilgrims visiting the National Shrine in the town of El Cobre, in the province of Santiago de Cuba, to show their devotion and ask for its protection.
According to legend, in the 17th century, three Cuban slaves, Juan Moreno, Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos, were working in the copper mines of the region when they saw the image of the Virgin, with the Child Jesus in her arms. She was approaching floating on a board, which said “I am the Virgin of Charity.”
Another part of the story indicates that, 75 years after the apparition, Juan Moreno, who was the only living witness of the miracle, recounted the events in a sworn statement before Captain Francisco Sánchez de Moya.
Sánchez de Moya received orders in 1597 from King Philip II to defend the Copper region from English pirates and erect a place where soldiers and miners could pray.
Before leaving for the New World, Sánchez de Moya had a replica of the Virgin of Charity carved, which was taken to the Island.
The image was taken to the town of El Cobre, where an improvised sanctuary was built for it, using only guano leaves and boards.
The image was moved shortly after to what would be its current sanctuary, located a short distance from the first, at the top of a hill that rises above the town of Cobre and is close to the mines.
This new sanctuary was known as the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, and became a place of pilgrimage for the Cuban Catholic faithful and a symbol of hope in difficult times.
The Virgin of Charity quickly became a symbol of Cuban religious identity. During the colonial period, slaves who worked on sugar plantations adopted the Virgin of Charity as their patron saint and mixed her with their own beliefs, giving rise to syncretic devotion to the “Virgin of Charity of Copper.”
This devotion became a central element of Cuban Santería, an Afro-Cuban religion that combines Catholic and African elements.
The figure of the Virgin of Charity also played an important role in the fight for Cuba’s independence from Spanish rule, since, during the Cuban War of Independence in the 19th century, the mambises, the independence fighters, carried medals and banners of the Virgin of Charity as symbols of their fight for freedom.
In 1916, she was proclaimed Patroness of Cuba by Pope Benedict XV, although she was crowned in person by Pope John Paul II until 1998.
