Rincón and the St. Lazarus Pilgrimage

Roots of a Cuban centenarian tradition

By Eduardo M. Bernal Alonso
Editorial JOSE MARTÍ


PRESENTATION

Once the publication of this interesting essay was agreed upon, its author asked me to write a few lines by way of presentation. This was a request that I welcomed as a privilege and a commitment as well as a great challenge, what with Professor Eduardo M. Bernal Alonso’s vast knowledge and self-imposed thoroughness and scientific rigor every time he undertakes this kind of task, to which this book is not an exception.

In my opinion, this monograph could not have seen the light of day at a better time, now that neocolonial globalization is the tool used by the world’s richest powers to impose their will on other countries and strip them of their economic and political independence. It also leaves them culturally impoverished in a process leading up to the loss of their national identity –mainly through a flood of all sorts of literature and making the most of their powerful media– and their ideology, based on the overvaluation of the sacrosanct merchandise.

Rincón y la Peregrinación de San Lázaro is a good example of how national identity can be protected, as it gives readers deeper insight into our customs and traditions and helps them live on, which is also a way to consolidate our native values.

Chapter One introduces us to the origin and evolution of this peculiar Cuban town, home, since time immemorial, to the hospital-chapel housing an image of Saint Lazarus, to whom many attribute all kinds of miracles, and a traditional pilgrimage on December 17th, marked by celebration and religious devotion and joined not only by local people but also thousands of people, including foreign visitors, who meet that day in the well-known “lazaretto”.

Chapter Two deals with the history of Rincón’s hospital and church. In the author’s rightful view this is essential to understanding the logic and background of the social event described in this book. Many people know about these institutions only by reference; others because at some point they have visited the shrine to make made their own votive offerings; but everyone will find in this essay reliable information endorsed by valuable documented sources.

As befits the topic he chose to write about, Bernal Alonso presents us with concepts such as TRANSCULTURACION, religious syncretism and religious expression, paramount to explain how the cult of the Saint Lazarus of the sore feet, crutches and dogs who many identify with Babalú Ayé, an orisha of the African pantheon that is present in the Osha Rule or santería cult, widely practiced in Cuba. All this you can find in Chapter Three.

Using the information provided by the latest social and religious studies conducted in Cuba that he could find and without straying off its historical character for one second, Bernal wrote for Chapter IV a sociological analysis of the traditional pilgrimage to the Rincón Sanctuary, always with a simple and enjoyable language that makes reading more appealing.

At the end, he attaches charts, statistical tables and a glossary that proves to be quite valuable to understand parts of the text.

Before I finish this commentary of sorts, I assure you, dear reader, that you will not be disappointed, since you will find in this book interesting data and fresh insight into this expression of Cuban popular religiosity. I am convinced that you will find it very easy to read, urged on by an eagerness to find out and learn about facts and events that brought fame to this small town in Havana where history, tradition and Cubanhood pile up so high.    

Julio César Mevil Camporredondo

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INTRODUCTION

As I was about to finish a research work about the history of Rincón, I felt an urge to complete my study with the inclusion of a social and historical event closely related to this part of Havana: the pilgrimage that the devotees of St. Lazarus make every year to the sanctuary built in this little town in 1917. Thus were the origins of this monograph and its summarized account of historical facts about this singular village that is so well-known in Cuba and elsewhere, despite its small size. What I can tell you in advance is that every single stage in the life of Rincón is brimming with events and developments that to some extent enrich our national history.

The book describes the beginning of the hospital-shrine of St. Lazarus, how his figure was brought to Rincón, and its evolution until the present day, as well as the Cuban people’s religious nature and some of its main expressions. These include popular Catholicism and the so-called syncretic cults, particularly the worship of the Saint Lazarus of the crutches and the dogs. These topics are further supported with a study of the feast on December 17 which gradually became a major Cuban tradition closely linked to the town.

Little-known or hitherto unpublished facts and events are also revealed that include a thorough analysis of the pilgrimage to the sanctuary based on important sources of information and recent research conducted in Cuba.

High on my list of reasons that I chose this topic was the limited knowledge many people have about Rincón’s history, the bond between the hospital and the shrine, and the genesis of the above-mentioned pilgrimage, about which fantasy has usually taken precedence over fact.

A review of the existing literature confirms that most works are focused on the religious phenomenon associated with the town and only a few make a decent scientific analysis but not through an integrating approach. Laciel Zamora’s El culto a San Lázaro en Cuba, published by the Fernando Ortiz Foundation, is by far the most enlightening and comprehensive.

Nevertheless, all previous attempts were a great help to this book, both the results of recent research undertaken by Cuban institutions and the studies conducted by the departments of Archeology and Ethnology and the Religious Affairs Division of the Cuban Academy of Sciences’ Center for Psychological and Sociological Research (CIPS). I also counted on assistance from the School of Philosophy and History of the University of Havana, the Olo Pantoja School of the Communist Party of Cuba and the provincial and the Ministry of Public Health’s provincial and municipal bureaus.

I spent years going over the backlists and documents kept at the National Archive; the Academy of Sciences’ Institute of History; the Museum of the Doctor Guillermo F. Hernández-Baquero Dermatological Hospital –formerly St. Lazarus Hospital– the Municipal Museums of Boyeros and Havana; the Museum of the Archbishopric; the Yoruba Cultural Society; the Africa House, and the History Museum of the Town of Guanabacoa. I also checked the archives of the Más Luz municipal library in Santiago de las Vegas and the Cuba Hall of the José Martí National Library, where most of the pictures of this book come from.

My biggest problem regarding the primary sources was the lack of documents about the beginning of the feast of St. Lazarus, which date back to over three centuries. Therefore, this text constitutes a humble effort to fill that void. The review of both newspapers of that time and contemporary publications was very useful in this connection.

For more than five years I had valuable help from a group of professors and students of the Higher Pedagogical Institute for Technical and Professional Education (ISPETP), with whom I worked on the site of the annual pilgrimage trail leading to the National Sanctuary of Saint Lazarus. I made countless interviews of the faithful attending the feast of December 17, practitioners of the Afro-Cuban religion and visitors in general, as well as to former residents, service workers, managers, doctors and other staff of the hospital-shrine who kindly shared with me their stories and memories.

Finally, I would like to state my sincere thanks to Dr. Matilde Alvarez, at the time Director of the hospital, and other employees for their help in our study; to the members of the order Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, especially sister Elvira García and sister María de Jesús Santillana; reverend father Fernando Rivero Hernández of the National Sanctuary of St. Lazarus; the Chancery of the Archbishopric of Havana, particularly reverend Monsignor Ramón Suárez Polcari and Ms. Mirta Ortega González; Antonio Castañeda, president, and Yanai Valdés López and Aridania González Barrios, members, of the Yoruba Cultural Society of Cuba; the late Jesús Cairo, parish priest of the San Juan Bautista Church in Calabazar, for his revision of a part of the drafts for this book; and the experts from many institutions who went to great pains to contribute.

A deep sense of gratitude toward my friends Dr. Leonela Rosabal, Yohan Cardentey Calzada and Migdelys Coello; Raúl Lestón, Elizabeth Mena Cedeño, Damir Corona Dennis and Enrique Hernández  Armenteros (Enriquito) from the St. Lazarus Chapel in La Hata, Guanabacoa, for their cooperation; fervent devotees Gabina Blanco Fuente , Carmen Alvarez Hurtado, Osvaldo Roché López and Salvador Allegues Acuña; and every other person, institution and organization that helped this book come to light.

Special thanks for their valuable suggestions to Dr. Dulce María Ohallorant González of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba’s Department of Ethnology and Anthropology; Professor Dr. Alejandro García, history researcher of the University of Havana; and Mr. Julio César Mevil Camporredondo, contributor to CIPS, who was kind enough to review the originals.

In sum, this work pays tribute to the neighbors of Rincón and those whose faith impels them to visit its “hospital of the body and temple of the soul” and thus continue a tradition with deep roots among the Cuban people. It’s to them that I dedicate my book, the result of several years of research. Let those who read these pages be the judges of the facts and events they describe. If what they learn turns out to be interesting and original, this book will have served its purpose.

The author