Cubans Pray to Our Lady of Regla and Our Lady of Charity
A lack of transportation, increasingly expensive sunflowers, and resigned faces set the tone for this year’s processions.
By Juan Diego Rodriguez and Dario Hernandez (14ymedio)
HAVANA TIMES – The Church of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre in Havana, at the corner of Manrique and Salud streets, was as packed this Tuesday as it is every September 8. The homily by Havana Archbishop Juan de la Caridad Garcia Rodriguez did not stray in the slightest from the expected themes, beyond the customary prayers for those who are suffering and a plea that those in despair find their way to Christ.
At first glance, nothing seems to have changed this year in the recurring ritual: Cubans continue to turn out in large numbers to celebrate the feast day of the island’s patron saint, continuing to seek spiritual refuge in Cachita and wearing her characteristic yellow.
A closer look, however, revealed some differences. The first was the heavy security presence. From early in the day, yellow tape blocked vehicles from entering the street beginning one block before the church. Outside the church and on the surrounding streets, there were more police than usual, although with each passing year the faces of those attending appear more resigned.
State Security prevented several activists from leaving their homes both Tuesday as well as Monday when the feast day of Our Lady of Regla is celebrated. Among them were Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White, her husband Ángel Moya, and fellow Lady in White Maria Cristina Labrada, according to reports they gave to Martí Noticias. Independent journalist Camila Acosta also reported a security operation around her home on September 7.
There were more officers, yes, but fewer sunflowers. A small bouquet now costs 2,000 pesos, twice as much as just two years ago and four times the price in 2022. The fuel crisis, which has inevitably taken a toll on transportation, has also discouraged many devotees. “An electric tricycle ride there costs no less than 300 pesos one way, and probably more coming back,” lamented a retiree from Nuevo Vedado. This year, she settled for buying a small candle and lighting it at home. “No sunflowers, because they’re very expensive too,” she said, confirming the inflation in flower prices.
A young man who lives in Luyano said he did not want to get caught after dark in Central Havana and then “have to go home in the dark because with all these blackouts there aren’t even any streetlights.”
Those who did attend the procession did so with their customary devotion, amid prayers and hymns. As the Virgin passed by, people used a broom to lift the electrical wires so the statue would not hit them. “Not that there’s any electricity anyway,” an elderly man joked as he watched the scene.
In Santiago de Cuba, at the Basilica Shrine, Archbishop Dionisio García Ibañez presided over Mass and stressed, according to a brief statement released by the Archdiocese on social media, that “the only path toward the well-being and progress of Cubans begins with freedom and respect.”
More festive, as usual, was Monday afternoon’s procession of Our Lady of Regla, whom the Yoruba religion identifies with the orisha Yemaya. From her church on the other side of Havana Bay, the statue was accompanied by a mixture of Catholic hymns, Afro-Cuban dancing and, above all, blue balloons and clothing, her characteristic color.
They did so despite the fact that discouragement has also spread among Yemayá’s devotees. “Monday you couldn’t hear any drumming for Yemaya or for the eve of Oshún’s feast day,” said a young woman from Cerro. “On my block, only one neighbor prepared an altar, and some of us were able to stop by to leave candles and pray. Of course, she has an EcoFlow, so she was able to keep a light on in the living room and also play some religious songs through a speaker, but that was it. Every other block around us was dark and silent.”
As happened today in Central Havana, yesterday’s crowd in Regla was watched over by police officers on motorcycles and on foot.
In the morning, devotees crouched along the shore of the bay to silently make their petitions to the protector of the sea. Shortly beforehand, Mass had been held, also drawing a large crowd.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.