Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Santiago de Cuba (Agenzia Fides) – The short film “La Caridad que nos une,” which was recently debuted, illustrates the popular devotion Cubans have to Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre ("La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre"). 2012 marks the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Virgin Mary and Cubans are preparing for this important anniversary with a three-year plan. A note on the presentation of the film by Orlandovich Tornes, published on the website of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba, highlights that the Rialto Cinema, close to the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba, where the short film was presented, was full of people. Presenting the film and the authors was Dr. David Silveira Toledo, Head of the Department of Art History at the University of the East. Orlandovich Tornes comments: "One could sense the excitement of the audience and many of them had been a part of the pictures presented. I saw a lady next to me who kept wiping her eyes with a handkerchief and I heard the comments: 'It was like being there again!'”
"CanXs,” the group of authors, was very pleased with the presentation and thanked everyone involved, explaining how they had put their hearts into their work, to overcome the shortage of resources. "When I showed the trailer,” said Tornes, announcing a preview on the Internet, “they told me they had also received numerous phone calls asking for permission to reproject the film in cinemas, and we are now working towards that." At the end, the people applauded for over two minutes.
According to tradition, in the early seventeenth century, three workers were in search of salt in a small canoe. They were on the waters of the northeastern part of the Bay of Nipe when they spotted a small white package that seemed to be a bird, floating between the foam of the waves. It was dawn and the day began to light up, so they paddled towards it. To their great surprise, it was the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, still dry, resting on a piece of wood on which was written: "I am the Virgin of Charity." Spreading from the village of El Cobre, the Marian devotion grew so much that it is now the deepest devotion throughout the Cuban nation. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 09/03/2010)
