'Walk with her'

By Emily Chaffins -

Photography: EMILY CHAFFINS | FC

MIAMI | On the feast of Our Lady of Charity, a milling crowd at her namesake shrine on Biscayne Bay laid sunflowers before her statue, sang along with the Coral Cubana’s lively music, and gazed up at a blaze of fireworks in honor of Cuba’s patron saint and the Archdiocese of Miami’s co-patroness.

The annual event was preceded by nearly two weeks of celebration, including a radio marathon fundraiser, novena, an artistic vigil, and the image’s visit to a series of sites throughout Miami-Dade County. On Sept. 8, the actual feast day, close to 9,000 people visited the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity to pray beside the bay, where her statue was displayed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Hundreds later took part in the evening Mass on the grounds of the shrine.

Luis Gutierrez, the man responsible for transporting the statue, which was smuggled from Cuba to Miami 62 years ago, was in attendance.

“Since the exile more than sixty years ago, the Virgin has also been a part of the Cuban community in exile,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who presided at the 8 p.m. Mass, which dozens of archdiocesan priests concelebrated.

This is the 62nd year that the celebration takes place in Miami. This December, the shrine is also marking the 50th anniversary of its dedication, Dec. 2, 1973.

The theme of this year’s celebration was “Under the Protection of Our Mother of Charity.” Father Elvis Gonzalez, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Miami, preached the homily this year.

After recalling the history of the shrine itself – how it was built at the request of, and on land donated by, Miami’s first bishop, Coleman Carroll, and paid for with the “penny by penny” donations of Cuban exiles – he focused on the terrible circumstances that have led ever growing numbers of people to find refuge in the U.S., and specifically Miami, after fleeing their native lands: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

We ask Our Lady of Charity, Father Gonzalez said, “to intercede before her son, Jesus, for the people of Cuba, and for those in so many nations who today demand dignity, who clamor loudly for their rights to be respected, who today simply ask to live in peace and for the removal of the gag that keeps them from expressing their free spirit, and who want to rebuilt a homeland that belongs to all and is for all.”

The evening began with Father Manny Alvarez, pastor of the Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, leading the crowd in reciting the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary, praying for intentions such as the freedom of political prisoners; for the Cuban society’s return to family values and to faith; and for Cuban youths both in their homeland and in Miami.

Afterward, members of Hispanic groups and apostolic movements processed with their banners and flags. Young people held a prominent place in the celebration.

Besides carrying their ministry banner, members of Encuentros Juveniles had the honor of carrying the U.S. and Cuban flags. Members of St. Thomas University who went on pilgrimage this summer to World Youth Day carried the statue of Our Lady of Charity to the altar before the Mass.

“It’s important because, as a second-generation Cuban, it’s a way to carry on the tradition of my Cuban heritage, a way to honor the roots,” said STU student Cecilia Seiglie.

Seiglie’s fellow pilgrim and STU student, Alan Angelis, referenced not only cultural heritage but the Marian theme of World Youth Day. “For all local Catholics in the Archdiocese of Miami, especially the Cuban and Hispanic community, it’s a very special event for prayers for Cuban freedom, but also growing in a personal relationship with our mother,” he said. “We come to Christ through her.”

Many of the young people who spoke to the Florida Catholic mentioned they had found Jesus – and in him, hope – through the Blessed Mother.

Kathleen Vargas Rodriguez, communications director for Encuentros Juveniles, said “the Blessed Virgin Mary has been helping me to get close to Jesus.” A native of Cuba, she was taking part in the Our Lady of Charity celebration for the first time. 

Juan Castellanos, another STU pilgrim, credited the Blessed Mother for his conversion to Catholicism. “I converted to Christ through Mary, so it’s an extreme honor I have been chosen to carry her [in procession],” Castellanos said. “Carrying the statue is an image of what we are supposed to do in life: Walk with her.”

Cuban American seminarian Erich Vazquez said the celebration is a call to hope. “What it means to be here is celebrating a mother that consoles and guides me to my best friend, Jesus. It’s a reminder of what God can do and is doing in my life.” 

Father Jose Espino, rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity, said the same is true for entire nations: “We don’t live from nostalgia, but from hope for the future.”