Our Lady of the Swamp
Religious Freedom and Religious Repression
30 Oct 2015, 00:23 GMT
Angel Cristóbal
In 1997 the parish members who regularly attended Mass at the Cathedral in Santa Clara in central Cuba were told by the pastor that they would have to go to other neighboring parishes for a couple of weeks because the Cathedral would be closed for a little while for repairs and repainting. They were more than happy to do so, looking forward to having their Cathedral all fixed up nicely. But when they returned on the first Sunday that it was reopened they were astonished and delighted to find standing just inside the main doors a huge 12-foot-tall marble statue of the Virgin Mary, securely placed on a newly-installed concrete base. The older parishioners recognized the statue, despite the deep gouges and chips, and the dark stains here and there, and were happy to tell the younger people the story.
In the late 50's, shortly before the revolution which would put Fidel Castro in power, a beautiful marble statue of Mary had been purchased and installed in the center of a major traffic circle of the city of Santa Clara. The Catholic majority was delighted with it, (the Protestant minority less so.) But in the early 60's the revolution was channeled into totally Marxist lines, and the revolutionaries who were not in agreement were eliminated or suppressed. Atheism was an important part of the system, and while religion was not forbidden, a series of policies was put into place to make religious belief and practice more and more difficult. In that atmosphere the people woke up one morning to find that the huge statue of Mary had disappeared!
Although it was impossible to move it without major equipment, the government denied knowing anything about it and the case was closed.
Many years later the municipal government decided to expand one of the marketplaces by filling in the adjoining swampy area. All went fine until the bulldozer hit something solid in the mud. After much grinding, pushing and digging, the statue of Mary was partially uncovered. It had been dumped in the swamp and had submerged in the mud. The government didn't know what to do with it. But soon the authorities noticed that people were sometimes gathering there to pray, leaving lighted candles at times. So once again the statue disappeared during the night and once again the government (the only owner of cranes and moving equipment) denied knowing anything. More years passed, with occasional rumors of the statue having been seen stashed here and there.
https://www.the-newshub.com/politics/our-lady-of-the-swamp
