“Thank you, Lord, and thanks to all the people who live, love and dream of a better tomorrow in Cuba and put their hope in God. I have lived three months in the Saint Ezekiel of Banes community and I have walked with these simple and needy people who with humble gratitude turn to Mary, Virgin of Charity, asking to live with dignity, peace and God’s blessing”. This is how Miró closes his story about Cuba.
Thanks to my missionary community
On June 14th, I traveled from Madrid to Havana, light on personal luggage but loaded with food and with four injectors to repair the Fiat car. No problems at customs. Ismael Xuruc (Guatemalan), prior of the community, was waiting for me at the airport. At dawn the next day we started the thirteen-hour drive to reach Banes. The other two members of the community were waiting for me there: Noé Servín (Mexican) and Julián Vallejos (Peruvian). A few days after my arrival we went to a priestly meeting in Holguín and there we greeted the bishop of the diocese, Monsignor Emilio Aranguren, and the auxiliary bishop, Monsignor Marcos Pirán.
On July 24, he joined the Kennet Pahamutang (Filipino) community from Mexico, where he lived for a few months. In the church, next to the image of the Virgin of Charity, is the photograph of our Filipino brother Joel Naranja, who left his life in Cuba, a victim of the pandemic. On August 8th we celebrated the first anniversary of his death.
Upon being appointed general councilor Ismael Xuruc, the prior general appointed Joseph Shonibare (Nigerian) superior of the Saint Ezekiel of Banes community, who arrived on September 2nd from the Mission of Pauiní, Amazonas, Brazil.
Together with the brothers of the community, the simple and emotional experiences of each day followed one another: prayer and the Eucharist in common, pleasant conversations about memories, events of the day, car breakdowns, news of the Order and pastoral projects. The parishes are attended “in solidum”, although each one is responsible for one of them. The brothers made it easy for me to meet and be with the people. I had to assimilate the “Cuban” to know and love this people, listen to their concerns, needs and desires. Preconceived schemes were of little use to me; we had to start from the good that is at the bottom of every heart and transmit the love of Christ, love that liberates and saves.
In the Eucharists that I celebrated in each of the parishes and communities, in the baptisms that I administered in Banes, in the visits to the sick in Báguanos, and in the confirmations in Antilla, I felt in tune with the mission of the community.
The Sunday Eucharists in Banes broadcast on Facebook were followed by those who did not go to church and even by Cubans from abroad. The meetings every Thursday with the group of the incipient Secular Augustinian-Recollect Fraternity of Banes encouraged me to share the faith with simplicity and to admire the action of God in this town. I knew the names of specific people, they helped us in the community and we felt their closeness and affection. The farewells to Ismael in Tacajó and in Báguanos and the farewell of the Fraternity group and of some people were very emotional. Greetings and farewells still resonate inside me:
“Thank you for coming to Cuba”, “Now that we loved him… When will he return?”
Virgin of Charity of Copper
Filial love for Our Lady of Charity beats in the heart of every Cuban:
“Mother who on Cuban soil,
you water your love from above,
Mother of the poor and the suffering,
Mother of joy and pain”.
The Virgin Mambisa is a reference in the identity of this town. In Banes, where the community resides, I was surprised that many people went to the church to pray to the Virgin of Charity, offered alms, lit a candle or left some flowers.
On the novena before the feast of the Virgin of Charity, the image was venerated every day in a house in a neighborhood of the town and the day concluded with the celebration of the Eucharist in that house. After the mass, the image of the Virgin illuminated on the jeep, to the sound of Marian songs, was taken to the church. During the tour people applauded their Virgin. September 8th was the big party; joy and popular devotion were manifested in the procession that I presided over through the streets of Báguanos carrying the image of the Virgin on a tricycle. Keneth had the celebration in Tacajó, Noé in Antilla. At sunset, we arrived at the Eucharist after the crowded procession through Banes where the image of the Virgin traveled the streets on a jeep. In the church there were people praying all day. I could not imagine that the parish church would be packed with faithful – children, young and old – in the celebration of the solemn Eucharist. The parish choir fervently sang their songs to Mary.
Thank you, Lord, and thanks to all the people who live, love and dream of a better tomorrow in Cuba and put their hope in God. I have lived three months in the Saint Ezekiel of Banes community and I have walked with this simple and needy people who with humble gratitude turn to Mary, Virgin of Charity, asking to live with dignity, peace and God’s blessing.
“Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to simple people” (Mt 11, 25).
