On cell phones use the keys on the screen. On your PC or laptop, you can use the directional arrows on the keyboard to move within the gallery. This year, the female dance ensemble Rumba Morena performed at the museum.īeyond faith, Cubans seek spiritual aid to shoulder their longings and hopes, hopes that today seem within reach, following the news about the new course that relations between Cuba and the United States have taken.Ĭlick on the thumbnails below to view all the photos in this gallery. The museum also holds a cultural gala where traditional dances and music are staged. The Casa de Africa run by the Havana Historian’s Office, though not a place of worship, serves as an ethnography museum devoted to the study and promotion of African culture and its diaspora and keeps a collection of religious artifacts, including a statue of Saint Lazarus which is put on display that day for the devout. Many places around Havana celebrate Saint Lazarus Day. The sanctuary, where stands selling religious and decorative items have permanently set up camp, is always crowded with people asking for change from visitors. On the 17th, the two-kilometer stretch between the entrance of the Rincon and the gates of the sanctuary is filled with people who have made the trip to the shrine to fulfill their promises.Įvery year, more and more believers join the pilgrimage. Thousands of devout people fulfill their promises to the deity in a massive pilgrimage to the Rincon sanctuary, where an effigy of the miraculous figure is kept. Lazarus was one of the few friends of Jesus Christ who was mentioned by name in the Gospels. On this day, Cuba’s places of worship light a candle in honor of the protective deity, said to cure illnesses and protect life. These religions are inseparable from Cuba’s national culture and are intertwined into an amalgam that Fernando Ortiz, the father of Cuba anthropology, aptly described as “transculturation.” Religions are a component of Cuba’s national identity. This syncretism is a socio-historical and cultural phenomenon. For the Yoruba creed, he is Babalu Aye, the old man of the crutches and dogs, for the Catholics he is the Bishop and martyr of Marseilles, for practitioners of Ganga he is Yebe, and for Bantu religions he is the old Luleyo or Coballende. The plants that correspond to it in nature are powerful, heal and alleviate diseases. He is attended by all those who need, above all, to implore him for health. He is the patron saint of the sick, miracle worker. Revered throughout Cuba, this saint has been adopted by different religious traditions. Saint Lazarus is one of the most revered deities in Cuba. On the streets, children, young people and the elderly wear the symbolic garments made of jute and purple fabrics, in allusion to the saint said to protect one’s health. The tradition continues to be an example of the religious roots of the Cuban people and their marked predominance in everyday life.HAVANA TIMES - Every 17th of December, many Cubans celebrate Saint Lazarus Day. The villagers turn the festivities into a fair of not only religious products but of food and drink as well. Faith in the saint, his miracles in the healing of the body, make the Cuban people venerate Babalu Aye, the African oricha, Lazaro, the biblical friend of Jesus and brother of Marta and Maria Magdalena, or Lazaro, the beggar who appears in a parable of the Gospel of Saint Luke. These are difficult times and religion becomes a means of escape, and people try to resolve hardships with the help of spirituality. Many of the people attend every year, some drag large stones, others carry colourful flowers they purchase along the way others put out a box for donations alongside a replica of the saint. The payers of promises crawling down the street breaking human limits, the devotees come to celebrate the day of the saint that grants miracles. The scenes are repeated every year on the path that leads to the gates of the sacred site. On December 17, the day of Saint Lazarus and Babalú Ayé, thousands of believers flock to the place to thank and ask the saint and the Orisha for help. 17th (HT) The return each year to the town of El Rincon in search of the National Sanctuary dedicated to San Lazaro, makes December 17th a special day in the lives of many Cubans.
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