Entrusting Cuba to Caridad... a guest post by Maria Morera Johnson

Photo by Maria Johnson

I've written about this subject before.... the lovely story of Our Lady of Charity "coming" to the people of Cuba over 400 years. Ah, but it is so much more than an story of sweet devotion to Mary, though it is very much that... today it has socio-political and religious ramifications for the tiny island of Cuba.

If you've ever thought that the story of salvation history ended with the coming of Christ 2000 years ago, think again. The history of salvation continues in the very lives we lead. The will of God continues to unfold in the world today, and Mary, the Mother of God is often playing a decisive role. In the last century and a half we've seen it happening in Lourdes, Fatima, Akita, Kibeho, and elsewhere. Many have believed that Mary has played a role in assisting the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, in the wake of Pope John Paul's consecration of Russia, and the entire world to Mary. Now, I can only guess what Our Lady's intercession may bring to Cuba in the future.

For now, Cuba's patroness, Our Lady of Charity, has brought two papal visits to this tiny nation within 15 years... and there are more and more public displays of faith taking place in the face of government oppression.

This week, my good friend, Maria Morera Johnson, who has taught me so much about this devotion to Our Lady of Charity, and about Cuban history, takes a turn as my guest at my column at Patheos. It is a pleasure to let her share her love of her Catholic faith, her love of Mary, and her heritage in her observations regarding Pope Benedict's visit to Cuba this week.

Here's a little excerpt....

Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba, the country of my birth and the country my parents and I fled in 1966, both delights and pulls on the heartstrings of many Cubans and Cuban-Americans like myself, watching his pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre from afar, yearning to be present with the Holy Father in this Jubilee Year. 

So much of my identity lies bundled within the mantle of Cuba’s patroness, La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, that I too easily forget who she is. 

To my child’s heart she is a constant companion, my ever-present friend whose image in the homes of family and friends, doctors’ offices, and storefronts in the Cuban neighborhoods of Atlanta and Miami where I grew up identified a little piece of home. The sight of her, especially in an unexpected place, is cause for joy -- as an adult I learned Cause of Our Joy as one of Mary’s many titles -- back then I just knew her as “la virgencita”, a sweet diminutive denoting the closeness of my relationship to her. 

Wherever she was, there was Baby Jesus nestled in her left arm. As a child, I never paid any mind to the object in her right hand, a cross. This juxtaposition of the Incarnation and Crucifixion, the dichotomy of joy and human suffering, speaks volumes to me today. 

Cuba’s history is also a dichotomy, a history resplendent with the natural beauty of an island paradise and a people filled with goodwill that contrasts with periods of oppression and abuse. In all of this, the Blessed Mother has remained present, watching over her children. 

Read it all, please.

At Fátima: A Bullet in Our Lady's Crown

My column at Patheos this week explores the link between Blessed John Paul II and the message of Fatima. Here's a sampling...

A curious and dramatic artifact from the pontificate of Blessed John Paul II is found in Fátima, Portugal… a would-be assassin’s bullet poignantly sits under the peak of Our Lady of Fátima’s bejeweled crown. The bullet was found in the Pope’s jeep after the 1981 attack on Pope John Paul II’s life. Sometime later, a grateful pope presented the bullet to the Bishop of Leira-Fátima. The Bishop promptly enshrined it in the crown, transforming a lethal image into a beautiful sign of faithful maternal protection and a son’s humble gratitude.

John Paul II attributed his survival of the shooting to the direct intervention of the Blessed Mother, to whom he had an ardent and lifelong devotion. 

The rest of the story, including quotes from Benedict XVI on the subject, is found here.

Over at Patheos today, I'm talking the miners rescue and our own!

I'm over at Summa This, Summa That drawing parallels between the wonderful rescue of the Chilean miners, and our own epic rescue.

Here's a snippet:

The distance from confinement to freedom was a twenty-minute half-mile ride in a claustrophobic rescue pod. 

Sometime after midnight on Wednesday October 13, 2010, the world began to watch in sheer joy, and perhaps sober disbelief, as the first of 33 Chilean miners, trapped for 68-69 days in their dark, womblike cavern of life, emerged.  Weeks of international effort and cooperation worked to set them free from the bowels of a collapsed mine after their record-breaking stay underground.

US media outlets called this rescue operation a miracle in its size and scope.

For those of us Catholics who are Marian-devoted, and who pay attention to things nuanced by the rhythm of the liturgical calendar, we smile in humble recognition of the date.

It is indeed a day for miracles.  

Read the rest here.

Pilgrimage Sights: The Shroud of Turin & Fatima

Lately, Pope Benedict XVI has been touring a bit ...

Last week he visited the amazing Shroud of Turin that is on display for the world right now. Here's a brief video of the pope praying before the relic. Here's a close-up of the shroud.

And here's some thoughts from the pontiff about the shroud, [a denser reflection broken into paragraphs by me]:

This is the mystery of Holy Saturday! Truly from there, from the darkness of the death of the Son of God, the light of a new hope gleamed: the light of the Resurrection. And it seems to me that, looking at this sacred Cloth through the eyes of faith, one may perceive something of this light. Effectively, the Shroud was immersed in that profound darkness that was at the same time luminous; and I think that if thousands and thousands of people come to venerate it without counting those who contemplate it through images it is because they see in it not only darkness but also the light; not so much the defeat of life and of love, but rather victory, the victory of life over death, of love over hatred. They indeed see the death of Jesus, but they also see his Resurrection; in the bosom of death, life is now vibrant, since love dwells within it. 

This is the power of the Shroud: from the face of this "Man of sorrows", who carries with him the passion of man of every time and every place, our passions too, our sufferings, our difficulties and our sins Passio Christi. Passio hominis from this face a solemn majesty shines, a paradoxical lordship. This face, these hands and these feet, this side, this whole body speaks. It is itself a word we can hear in the silence. 

How does the Shroud speak? It speaks with blood, and blood is life! The Shroud is an Icon written in blood; the blood of a man who was scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified and whose right side was pierced. The Image impressed upon the Shroud is that of a dead man, but the blood speaks of his life. Every trace of blood speaks of love and of life. Especially that huge stain near his rib, made by the blood and water that flowed copiously from a great wound inflicted by the tip of a Roman spear. That blood and that water speak of life. It is like a spring that murmurs in the silence, and we can hear it, we can listen to it in the silence of Holy Saturday.  [Read the full text here.]

Here's another take on viewing the Shoud from a 5th year seminarian.

This week, the Holy Father is in Fatima, the place that John Paul II called Mary's "throne" upon earth.  I've had the opportunity to visit Fatima twice (Summers of '98 and '02, recalled on AW #7.)

Here's an excerpt from an address the pope gave yesterday:

I come as a pilgrim to Our Lady of Fatima, having received from on high the mission to strengthen my brothers as they advance along their pilgrim journey to heaven.. 

As for the event that took place 93 years ago, when heaven itself was opened over Portugal – like a window of hope that God open...

The Virgin Mary came from heaven to remind us of Gospel truths that constitute for humanity – so lacking in love and without hope for salvation – the source of hope. To be sure, this hope has as its primary and radical dimension not the horizontal relation, but the vertical and transcendental one. The relationship with God is constitutive of the human being, who was created and ordered towards God; he seeks truth by means of his cognitive processes, he tends towards the good in the sphere of volition, and he is attracted by beauty in the aesthetic dimension. Consciousness is Christian to the degree to which it opens itself to the fullness of life and wisdom that we find in Jesus Christ. The visit that I am now beginning under the sign of hope is intended as a proposal of wisdom and mission.

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