“Intimacy with the Mother of God that has served me well in my faith”

Growing up Catholic and Cuban-American in the Bible Belt of the Deep South in the late 1960s […] the intersection of my Catholic and cultural identities led to a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Charity, the patroness of my birthplace, Cuba. The virgencita (little Virgin) was always present in my home. My mother often used this endearment for the Blessed Mother, and in this simple way introduced a familiarity and intimacy with the Mother of God that has served me well in my faith. […]

When I became a naturalized citizen, I adopted the patroness of the U.S., the Immaculate Conception, as my go-to image of Mary. Our Lady of Guadalupe, too, became a powerful influence as patroness of the Americas, encompassing all my cultural roots, both North and South.

Although I now had many titles with which to relate to Mary, Our Lady of Charity continued to tug at my heart. Although she is often depicted floating above a canoe with three men caught in a storm at sea, the real story of Our Lady of Charity is not an apparition, but rather a miraculous answer to a desperate plea for safety in a sudden storm.

Three men went out to gather salt in the marshes of the Bay of Nipe on the eastern coast of Cuba in 1612. Their boat rocked in the uncertain seas as a storm threatened their lives. They called out to the Blessed Virgin Mary to keep them safe, and suddenly the storm calmed and a little statue strapped to a board appeared floating next to their boat. Astonishingly, the statue was not wet. The men, certain it was a sign of favor from the Blessed Mother, returned to their village where they venerated the Blessed Mother under the title that was scratched onto the board where they found her.

Just as these men turned to Mary for solace some 400 years ago, I turn to her today, especially in the many storms I’ve encountered in my life. I think of her, near me, consoling and watchful as a good mother, like my own good mother whose love is undeniable. Mary is always present to me and brings the Child Jesus. Gazing upon the image of Charity instructs us in both the Incarnation and the Passion of her Son. She holds the infant Jesus under her heart in one hand and the cross of His Passion in the other. Her name, Charity, evokes love in all its forms.

Maria Morea Johnson
Author of the award-winning books Super Girls and Halos, My Badass Book of Saints and Our Lady of Charity.

This article appeared in the May 2021 issue of The Catholic Telegraph magazine.
https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/the-final-word-our-lady-of-charity-my-heavenly-mother/74761