- Title: CUBA: Cubans pay homage to Saint Lazarus
- Date: 18th December 2008
- Summary: EL RINCON, HAVANA, CUBA (DECEMBER 17, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ARRIVING TO CHURCH OF ST. LAZARUS TO VENERATE THE SAINT ON HIS HOLY DAY VARIOUS OF MEN DRESSED IN SUIT MADE OF JUTE CLOTH WITH STATUE OF SAINT LAZARUS BEING DRAGGED THROUGH THE STREET TO BE TAKEN TO THE CHURCH PEOPLE TRAVELING TO CHURCH TO VENERATE ST. LAZARUS MAN DRESSED IN JUTE CLOTH SUIT LYING IN ST
- Embargoed: 2nd January 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Cuba
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Religion
- Reuters ID: LVAEP37JKN3VNTLHZNUPBD3DW78G
- Story Text: Thousands of Cubans turned out on Wednesday (December 17) to honour St. Lazarus on the Catholic saint's holy day.
The annual peregrination and veneration comes less than a month after the landmark first beatification of a Cuban priest, an event which took place on Saturday (November 29), some 500 years Catholicism first arrived on the Caribbean island.
As a sign of increasingly decreased animus towards the Vatican, Cuban leader Raul Castro attended the beatification ceremony in Camaguey, a sharp turn from the origins of the Castro-led Cuban revolution that once viewed open expressions of faith as "counter -revolutionary" and even at one point banned Christmas celebrations.
In 1992, Fidel Castro took the word 'atheist' out of the communist constitution, a gesture that began the thaw between the church and Havana.
The annual pilgrimage to one of Cuba's most sacred icons drew large crowds of both Roman Catholic believers and followers of the Afro-Cuban Santeria faith for whom Saint Lazarus also symbolizes the deity Babalu-Aye, despite the Vatican's refusal to recognize that deity.
In both Catholicism and Santeria -- introduced by African slaves brought to Cuba when it was a Spanish colony -- Saint Lazarus is associated with the healing of sicknesses.
The faithful began arriving at the chapel housing Saint Lazarus' image in the dusty village of El Rincon, in agricultural land 15 miles (25 km) outside Havana, in Havana province, on Monday (December 15) the day before the eve of Saint Lazarus' Day.
With the most conservative estimates pegging the number of attendees at 15,000, and others putting the tally at over 100,000, the pilgrimage, traditionally one of the Caribbean island's most important religious events, reflects the resilient spirituality of many Cubans.
Many of the pilgrims arrived at the chapel exhausted and bleeding after gruelling treks barefoot, on their knees, or even dragging themselves along the ground accompanied by dogs in some cases. Many wore the traditional sackcloth of penitence, often made of the humble yute material.
One Cuban woman described how the religious rite was significant to her at her most desperate hour.
"I was trapped between two train cars (in an accident). I had my head operated on, my neck too, and I was all opened up. I lost my spleen, my kidney, a part of my stomach, a part of my liver, my leg - I wasn't walking. I made an offering to St. Lazarus to come into the church on my knees with a sack that I have to carry," a retired Paula Violeta Rama said.
And one attendee credited Lazarus with the healing of her recently hospitalised daughter.
"My child fell and took a hit to the head, and so I asked (St.
Lazarus) that if they were going to say everything was fine and order a discharge the other morning at the hospital. And I came dressed in a suit made of jute, on my knees, the other day during the morning, and they discharged us," 26-year old Janet Perez said.
Inside the church, Catholic workers led round-the-clock devotions, with candle-lit prayers and blessings.
There is also a separate shrine to lepers.
A decade ago, the veneration of Lazarus received the highest Catholic praise, when then Pope John Paul II coincided his historic 1998 trip to Cuba to take part in the commemoration. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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