Cubans Pay Homage to Patron Saint
By KEVIN GRAY - Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, December 19, 2000
HAVANA (AP) - Nilson Torres walked barefoot for 21 days to
the St. Lazarus shrine, lugging bags of food and clothes and
a cardboard box filled with cigars, rum, and oil.
It took 43-year-old Jose Emilio Bolboyera five hours from
his home to the shrine crawling on his belly, wiggling and
writhing along a country road and dragging three cement
blocks chained to his right leg _ mostly as a sign of
penance.
Tens of thousands of other Cubans made the trek by bike or
car beginning Saturday night, paying tribute to St. Lazarus,
a patron saint of lepers to whom Cubans give annual thanks
and praise for fulfilling wishes and miracles.
Most Cubans have made the journey at least once in their
lives. By Sunday morning, thousands of pilgrims had convened
at the El Rincon church, 20 miles outside of Havana, to
offer their praise and thanks. The annual tribute is called
St. Lazarus Day, a local Catholic festival which is
celebrated here every Dec. 17.
Alberto Rodriguez made the trip for a third time this year _
this time on his stomach, because he was especially
grateful. After praying last year to St. Lazarus _ known in
Spanish as San Lazaro _ he said his daughter miraculously
recovered from an ailment described by doctors as
life-threatening. It took him 13 hours.
"She was deathly sick but this year was cured," said
Emilio Garcia, a friend walking alongside Rodriguez, urging
him to keep twisting his dirt-caked body toward the church
entrance. "This is his sacrifice to San Lazaro for his good
fortune."
As Rodriguez neared the church steps, friends and family
urged him on with chants of "You're almost there!" and
"Be strong!" Rodriguez clutched a cigar as another friend
cleared dirt and debris from his path with a tree branch.
Like others, Rodriguez hoped to deliver San Lazaro gifts of
flowers, oil, wine, cigars, and other tokens of
appreciation.
Tears welled in Rodriguez's eyes, his face twisted in pain.
Once inside, his body trembled as a priest pressed his hands
on Rodriguez's head to bless him.
The small white church was lit up by dozens of purple and
white candles. Circles of cigar smoke wafted through the
air. Off to the side, dozens placed offerings of flowers and
Cuban pesos in front of an encased statue of San Lazaro, a
bishop of the Catholic Church whose persona has been
slightly altered in Cuban folklore.
Lazaro is closely identified with Babalu Aye, an Afro-Cuban
deity of the sick in the African-influenced Santeria
religion popular in Cuba. Popular lore has it that Babalu
Aye alone assumed all the sicknesses of his people to save
them.
The more popular depiction of Lazaro varies slightly with
the version of the church, said the Rev. Fernando Rivero,
one of the priests at El Rincon church.
An encased statue inside the sanctuary showed a Lazaro
dressed in a flowing red robe, speckled in gold and silver.
Outside, plaster statues of Lazaro on sale showed a beggar
with crutches and covered with sores as described in the
parables of Jesus Christ. The statues showed a man draped in
rags and dogs licking the wounds on his legs.
"More than 98 percent come for that San Lazaro," Rivero
said. "That version is basically an invention. It doesn't
exist in Catholicism."
The religious procession has been a long-standing tradition,
despite Cuba's only recent acceptance of religion since the
revolution. The Cuban government has never banned the annual
pilgrimage, although heavy security is usually deployed as
past years have attracted dozens of dissidents.
Capping a 10-hour trek on foot, Gladice Contreras, 19, fell
to her knees at the entrance of the church. As she crawled,
her face wrenched in pain, she held out two plastic bags
full of candles and cigars and bottles of rum.
"I told San Lazaro last year that if everything was going
well in my life, that my friends had jobs that my parents
were healthy that I would bring him these gifts. I just
wanted to thank him for all that's he's brought me."