September 8, 2008
(Mat 1:23) Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
FEAST DAY: Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, Patroness of Cuba
MORE: Our Lady of Charity is a revered symbol in Cuba. A small statue of the Virgin Mary is revered in Cuba as Our Lady of Charity, a symbol of faith and national identity.
Our Lady of Charity has been entwined with the island's history for nearly 400 years, ever since the statue was found floating in the Bay of Nipe off the island's northeast coast.
The discovery is chronicled in an account set down decades after the events happened.
Between 1606 and 1612, two Indian brothers -- Juan and Rodrigo de Hoyos -- set out with the 10-year-old African slave Juan Moreno to collect sea salt for the Spanish colony's booming copper-mining settlement of El Cobre. Crossing the bay in a small craft, the three spied an object -- ``a white thing floating on the foam.'' When they drew near, they found it was a statue of the Virgin Mary, about a foot high, carrying the infant Jesus on her left arm and a gold crucifix in her right hand. The statue was attached to a plank inscribed: `Yo soy la Virgen de la Caridad [I am the Virgin of Charity].'' They carried the statue to El Cobre, where it became an object of veneration whose image spread throughout the island, often shown rising above a stormy sea before the gaze of three awestruck voyagers in a tiny boat.
Our Lady of Charity was declared Cuba's patron saint by Pope Benedict XV in 1916.
CUBAN NEWS HEADLINE: Deadly Ike rakes Cuba, could hit Havana head-on
WEATHER BLOG: As promised, here is why the passage of Hurricane Ike just north of the Bay of Nipe in eastern Cuba is so significant:
Firm documentation exists of the experiences of three very young sea salt gatherers who went into the bay to gather salt in the early 1600's. They ran into a storm and prayed for help. They saw and recovered from the water a statue of the Virgen Mary, floating on a board, whose clothing was completely dry. They carried her ashore and after more miraculous happenings, a shrine was built in her honor on Copper Mountain (El Cobre) in eastern Cuba. She has become known as Our Lady of Charity and has inspired love and devotion and a spirit of nationhood under her Queenship throughout Cuba during the last four centuries.
Her feast day is SEPTEMBER 8TH (the same day in which the Church celebrates the Blessed Mother Mary's Birthday). Many a lost rafter in the Florida Straits have begged for her help and protection.
EWTN: Prayer to Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, Patroness of Cuba
who came to us as a messenger of peace across the sea.
You are the Mother of all Cubans
To you we come, Most Holy Mother of God
to honor you with love as your children.
To your motherly heart
we entrust our desires and hopes
our work and our prayers.
We pray for our torn country
that we may be able to build
a nation based on peace and unity.
We pray for our families
that they may live in fidelity and love.
We pray for our children
that they may grow strong
in spirit and in body.
We pray for our young people
that their faith may increase,
as well as their attachment to
the truth.
We pray for the sick, the homeless,
the lonely, the exiled,
and for all suffering souls.
We pray for the Catholic Church in Cuba,
for its mission,
for its priests, deacons,
religious and laity.
We pray for the victory
of justice and love
in our country.
Mother of Charity!
We place ourselves
under your mantle of protection!
Blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus!
And to Him be the glory and the power
now and forever. Amen.
(Add one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and one Gloria).
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 7- "On Joy-Making Mourning"
34. It is not surprising if mourning begins with good tears and ends with bad. But it is praiseworthy if reprehensible and natural tears are goaded on to spiritual tears. People inclined to vainglory understand this problem clearly.Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
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