The Virgin�s 'dressmaker'

By Grace Piney - Grace Piney

 

MIAMI | Her name is Carmen Ruiz and her hands are blessed. She creates things that turn sacred.

Until now, she has declined to be identified, recognized or even worse, praised. She does not mince words: “I don’t work for this life; I work for God and life eternal.”

Ruiz embroiders the dresses worn by the image of Our Lady of Charity that is housed at her shrine in Miami. Every Sept. 8, on her feast day, Our Lady of Charity wears a new dress. Her wardrobe also changes during Holy Week, Pentecost and Christmas, and sometimes for Mother’s Day. On those occasions, dresses from years past get re-used.

Ruiz charges nothing for her work. She also accepts no other commissions. She embroiders exclusively for Cuba’s patroness and the Church, especially now that she’s turned 88 and her eyesight is weak.

“Most of the materials that are used to make the Virgin’s dresses are donated, and many are brought over from the Vatican. The threads, and often the lace, are gold,” Ruiz said. “In the Church, when someone donates something for a specific purpose, you have to use it for that purpose.”

The French lace that decorated the dress worn by the image this year cost more than $1,000, and the donation totaled nearly two yards. Ruiz said she is profoundly moved when she sees the fabric and ascertains its quality. Her emotion is palpable as she speaks about the devotion of those who make the donations.

Ruiz was discovered by Rogelio Zelada, associate director of the archdiocesan Lay Ministry Office. As the custodian of the image since 1987, one of his duties is to specify the design of the dresses. Some years back he ran into a problem: The woman who had being doing the sewing had fallen ill and could no longer help. Then someone told him about another woman who embroidered.

“Zelada and I have formed a tremendous team,” Ruiz said excitedly. “He thinks of things and tells me � and I had already thought about them!”

She laughs while recalling other occasions when he has brought her materials with no clue how they can be used; when she sees them, she gets inspired. That’s what happened when he brought her several square pieces of mother-of-pearl, each between three and five centimeters in size. Ruiz turned them into a mantle that seemed to be made of lights.

“Sometimes I work on three dresses at a time,” she said. “I give priority to the one they want her to wear for the first time, but if I think of something else I start on that even if I’m working on another one.”

Zelada said the image currently has more than 40 dresses, and Ruiz has embroidered or repaired nearly half of them. The earliest dresses were damaged in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew flooded the basement where they were kept at the shrine. Some were preserved but are unusable. They are now part of the artistic and historical patrimony of the shrine.

Ruiz has been sewing for liturgical purposes since she was a child. She learned to embroider at the Salesian school she attended. Since she finished her work ahead of time, the sisters would put her to work embroidering purifiers and other sacred objects.

“I enjoyed it so much, I would tell God: I want to make an altar cloth, a chasuble, the curtain for the tabernacle. That’s what I wanted to do. And God has more than granted it because I have not only made altar cloths, I’ve lost count of how many. I’ve lost count of the number of sacred cloths, of purifiers� I’ve lost count of everything.”

She completed her first commission for Our Lady of Charity in record time: 18 days for two dresses, one for the image and the other for the replica that is raffled off. Previously, the work had taken between six months and a year. One time the dress came in so late it could not be used on the feast day.

In “Cachita’s room” in her house � (Cachita is Cubans’ nickname for their patroness) � Ruiz keeps beads, pearls, semi-precious stones, Swarovski crystals and all types of threads and fabrics: apricots, silks, and lace.

“They’re fabrics that seem to have been made by angels,” she said, as if in ecstasy.

Who will make the robes when Ruiz is no longer around?

“We don’t know,” she said. “Zelada brings me the fabrics as if I were eternal.”

But Ruiz is planning ahead. “I make as many dresses as I can.” She knows there will always be an occasion for the Virgin to wear them.

Unlike the original shrine of Our Lady of Charity in El Cobre, Cuba, the shrine in Miami rarely receives great offerings in thanksgiving for favors granted. But the image here does retain the memory of one miracle.

Some years ago, as Mass was about to start, a woman arrived and asked the priest to add a newborn’s name to the list of the deceased. The doctors had predicted he would die in one or two hours, so the woman presumed he had already passed. The 8 p.m. Mass that evening started more than an hour late, as the priest prayed for the life of the child.

After Mass, the woman returned to the hospital. The child was, miraculously, out of danger.

When he was released from the hospital, his parents returned to the shrine to place him at the feet of Our Lady. As a gift, they left a bracelet bearing his name, which they had bought to commemorate his birth. Ruiz makes sure it always remains in the hands of the Virgin.

 

Events to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Charity

• Maritime procession of the image of Our Lady of Charity, Aug. 30, 4:30 p.m., through Biscayne Bay, blessing the city of Miami.
• Novena, Aug, 30 � Sept. 7: Masses for each day of the novena will be at 8 p.m., except Sunday, Sept. 3, which will be at 3 p.m., and on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6:45 p.m.
• Cultural Vigil, Sept. 7, beginning at 9 p.m., at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre. The vigil will end at midnight with the traditional "Mañanitas a la Virgen" performed by the Mariachi Mora-Arriaga.
• Feast of Our Lady of Charity, Friday, Sept. 8
• 12 p.m. Mass for sick, at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity.
• 5 p.m. procession of Our Lady from its Shrine to the Watsco Center (formerly Bank United Center) University of Miami, 1245 Dauer Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146. Doors of the Watsco Center will open at 5 p.m. also.
• 6 p.m. praying of the rosary.
• 6:40 p.m. the winners of the raffle will be announced. This year will be raffled: An image of Our Lady of Charity, an image of St. Michael the Archangel and a wall rosary. Tickets $5.
• 6:45 p.m. parade of lay movements.
• 8 p.m. annual Mass; Archbishop Thomas Wenski will be the main celebrant accompanied by many of the priests of the archdiocese.