Our Lady of Charity of the Miami Copper

Marian devotion of Miami (Florida)

La Miami Hermitage of Charity (in English, National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity) was born linked to the Cuban exile after the Revolution, as a place of prayer and memory in front of the sea, with a symbolic look towards Cuba. According to the tradition of the community, the first exiles went to Biscayne Bay to pray to the Virgin of Charity of the Copper for the freedom of Cuba and for the scattered families; from those prayer meetings came the desire to raise a sanctuary of their own. This spiritual and affective motivation is part of the identity of the sanctuary, although it is not always recorded in detail in official documents.

Main data

Origin and history

La Miami Hermitage of Charity (in English, National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity) was born linked to the Cuban exile after the Revolution, as a place of prayer and memory in front of the sea, with a symbolic look towards Cuba. According to the tradition of the community, the first exiles went to Biscayne Bay to pray to the Virgin of Charity of the Copper for the freedom of Cuba and for the scattered families; from those prayer meetings came the desire to raise a sanctuary of their own. This spiritual and affective motivation is part of the identity of the sanctuary, although it is not always recorded in detail in official documents.

In the plan of the documented history, various sources point out that the "hermitage" as a work and institution arises in the archdiocese of Miami in the early 1960s, in a context of a strong presence of Cuban exiles. On September 8, 1961 - the feast of the Virgin of Charity, patron of Cuba - a great mass was held in Miami in honor of the Virgin with the participation of tens of thousands of faithful, which is considered a founding milestone of this devotion organized in exile. From then on the construction of a stable sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Charity, next to Biscayne Bay, which would eventually be recognized as National Sanctuary by the Church in the United States.

The history of the advocation that is venerated there, however, refers to the Cuban origin of the Virgin of Charity of the Copper: according to tradition, the image was found around 1612 by two indigenous people and an African slave who sailed in the bay of Nipe, on a table with the inscription "I am the Virgin of Charity." This original image is now being venerated in the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity of the Copper, in El Cobre (Santiago de Cuba), and was recognized as patron of Cuba by Benedict XV in 1916. The Miami Hermitage, in the land of exile, prolonges this Cuban national devotion.

The image and the sanctuary

In the Miami Hermitage of Charity, a image of the Virgin of Charity of the Copper que es una faithful copy of the original image of the El Cobre shrine in Cuba. According to the testimony in the historical narrative of the sanctuary, the image comes from the parish of Guanabo, in Havana, and was taken outside Cuba in the context of religious persecution under the communist regime, coming hidden in a suitcase. It is a typical Cuban representation of the Virgin of Charity, of small format, with the Child Jesus in arms and the cross in hand, following the iconography of the original size of polychrome wood of the 17th century venerated in El Cobre.

The temple is popularly known as Hermitage of Charitybut his official name is National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity (National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity), belonging to the archdiocese of Miami. It's a building of arquitectura modernalocated in the area of Coconut Grove, next to Biscayne Bay, with a design designed to host a great influx of faithful and offer an open view towards the sea, symbolic expression of the link with Cuba and the itinerary of exile. The available sources present it as one of the most important places of worship, history and culture for Cubans in southern Florida. It is not established in the documentation consulted that the temple has been elevated to the title of minor basilica; he is explicitly recognized as a National sanctuary.

Sponsorship and coronation

The advocation venerated in the Hermitage of Charity of Miami is the same as the patrona de Cubathe title that the Virgin of Charity of the Copper officially received by decree of Pope Benedict XV in 1916. In the American context, the Hermitage acts in fact as a sanctuary and spiritual reference for the Cuban community exiled in Miami and South Floridaand is recognized as a Marian national sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Charity. However, there is no specific civil or canonical patronage other than the general patronage of the Virgin of Charity over Cuba.

As for the canonical coronationthe original image of the Virgin of Charity of the Copper in El Copper was crowned canonically by Pope Pius XI on December 30, 1936. However, regarding the venerated image in the Miami Hermitage of Charity, in the sources consulted does not contain a documented canonical coronation given to that specific image by the Holy See.

Party and devotion

La main party of the Virgin of Charity of the Copper is celebrated the September 8, a liturgical date established in relation to the patronage of Cuba and also assumed by the Cuban communities in exile. The story of the Miami Hermitage itself highlights the importance of this date: on September 8, 1961, a great Marian feast was held in the archdiocese of Miami in honor of the Virgin of Charity, with approximately 30,000 faithful, which marked the visible beginning of this sanctuary as the center of Cuban devotion.

La inflow of pilgrims the Hermitage of Charity is constant throughout the year, with a special intensity around 8 September, at Holy Week and on significant dates for the Cuban community; the reviews and chronicles describe it as one of the main places of spiritual, cultural and national pilgrimage of Cubans in southern Florida. The characteristic devotional features include:

– La presentación de intentions by Cuba, por los presos, por los enfermos y por las familias separadas. – La presencia de yellow flowers, color asociado popularmente a la Virgen de la Caridad entre los cubanos. – La celebración de misas y novenas, procesiones y actos culturales que combinan la fe católica con la memoria histórica del exilio.

The sanctuary maintains a wide schedule of openness and masses, which promotes daily devotion, not only linked to great romaneries.

Link to the Rosary

In the available documentation on the Miami Hermitage of Charity does not contain a specific or exclusive link to the Rosary prayersuch as an official fellowship of the Rosary of the sanctuary or a particular concession linked to this practice. The main devotion focuses on the figure of the Virgin of Charity as the patron of Cuba and mother of the Cuban people in exile.

However, in the Marian Catholic spirituality - and in the tradition of Cuban devotees themselves - the Rosario occupies a central place as a meditative prayer on the mysteries of Christ's life with Mary. In a Marian sanctuary like the Hermitage, the Rosary naturally accompanies devotion: it helps the faithful to contemplate, together with Our Lady of Charity, the mysteries of incarnation, the cross and resurrection, illuminating their own experiences of suffering, uprooting and hope of exile. Many pilgrims integrate the prayer of the Rosary in their visits to the sanctuary, thus uniting the memory of the history of Cuba and its families with the contemplation of the mysteries of salvation, under the maternal protection of the Virgin of Charity.