If I were in Havana today, I would surely be at El Rincón, taking photos and more photos of the faithful and pilgrims who come every year to the Sanctuary of San Lázaro to ask for miracles, especially health for themselves and their loved ones.
But I am far from my island and it is time to remember the many times I have been there on December 17 or the day before, always in search of some first-rate photo, which I prefer not to say if I achieved it or not. It is also time to remember the friends with whom I shared, the colleagues and family, especially my father, son of San Lázaro, who is no longer with me and perhaps has met with good Babalú Ayé in some corner of the universe.
In case any non-Cuban reads me, I clarify that San Lázaro, the miraculous, is also known as Babalú Ayé, in Afro-Cuban cults. Or he is simply called, colloquially and affectionately, The Old Man. San Lázaro is one and all at the same time, everyone adores him and asks him from their religion, but with the same faith that he will hear their prayers and, almost certainly, will work the saving miracle.
Because our San Lázaro, the one to whom we bring candles and purple flowers, to whom we go dressed in rough jute sack fabric, is not an inert saint. Our dear Babalú Ayé is a guy who “works.” I doubt he will have enough time to satisfy all the orders he receives every December 17, from all corners of the island. But he resolves, pleases his faithful, saves them from illnesses and misfortunes and every year people return to entrust him with their most difficult problems in search of his miraculous help.
I would like to teleport myself right now to Boyeros, walk to El Rincón alongside the faithful who crawl with heavy stones or chains, those who walk with their children on their shoulders, asking for a cure for some bad disease or those who walk on their knees atoning for their sins or letting the candle wax burn and martyr their hands.
And taking photos left and right of the strangers who walk en mass to the altar of San Lázaro, the Catholic. Talk to people with that confidence and relaxation that only happens, I’m very sure, among us Cubans.
What will people ask for in 2023? The last few years have been very hard for the beloved island. Devastating. I suppose that this December my compatriots will be saturating San Lázaro with requests perhaps impossible to resolve for his holiness.
I want to think that many will ask that the country get back on track, that it move forward, that the eternal crisis in which we live and that seems to last forever and ever comes to an end, that our leaders look more inward and that we all work for a better country, for a nation that we feel proud to bequeath to our children.
But many will ask to leave. Far away, that life is just one and you have to live it. They will ask for visas that old Babalú will not be able to get, visas that are difficult to obtain, impossible in many cases.
And that is sad, that we prefer to leave — at this point I include myself — to try to make amends.
Authors
Alejandro Ernesto,
OnCuba Staff
