A Happy Halloween and All Saints Eve to you! You may be surprised by that saintly image you see and wondering who it is.
Well, that’s La Caridad del Cobre, the patron saint of Cuba. The story of La Caridad is that the young men in the boat were out in the bay when a furious storm broke out. The young boys feared for their lives until an apparition of Mary came to them and said that she was “La Virgen de la Caridad” (the Virgin of Charity). When the storm passed, the young men found a statue of La Caridad in the waters and took her to land. La Caridad del Cobre’s Feast day is September 8th.
She is also my patron saint as I was named after her. Christmas hint to my family — I’ve wanted a statue of her for years!
My family had another saint they honored — Mother Cabrini. Every year we would make a pilgrammage to see her shrine located near the Cloisters in Manhattan. Mother Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants.
You may be wondering about the saints talk and why today, on Halloween — All Hallows Eve and the Eve of All Saints Day. Well, the reason for it is that my friend and fellow author Carolyn Martin sent me a link to this clip by her brother, Father James Martin. It’s a great fun video discussing the connections between Halloween and All Saints Day (formerly All Souls Day in my time as well as the Day of the Dead in Mexico). Since he mentioned patron saints and Mother Cabrini, I figured I share it with you. Hang tight, it’s about 6 minutes long. Also, make sure to stay around for the outtake at the end.
Considering I was born on All Saints’ Day, it just goes to show that being born on a holy day does not make one holy….
by Irene October 31st, 2008 at 9:51 amGreat video, though. Fr. James is a pip!
My confirmation saint is Mother Cabrini!
When being confirmed, we had to give the
Bishop a card with the saint’s name on it.
Sister Bernadette had put Mother Cabrini
on the card. Bishop Morkovski stopped
everything, he wanted the full name - only no seemed to know it! We had to wait for at least 5 or 6 minutes as someone went to look up her first name! Now this was back in the day when the rite included a slap on the cheek. I got a
slap that was bit harder than everyone
else! Oh, by the way, her full name is
France Xavier Cabrini. I will never, ever
forget that name!
Pat Cochran
by Pat Cochran October 31st, 2008 at 12:39 pm