World news. Rare image of Black virgin Mary is being heavily celebrated. A rare black images of the Virgin Mary has surfaces in Cuba, the Virgin is venerated at the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Regla, (Church of Our Lady of Regla) in Regla, Havana, Cuba.
The day of the virgin feats day is September 7 and every year faithfuls gather for a procession.
How can I see the Virgin of Regla in Cuba?
The best and easiest way to get to Regla is by boat from Terminal de Ferris, the maritime terminal in Old Havana. The church is a short walk away.
The festival, dubbed the festival of Yemayá is a real celebration. She is mother earth, the mother of us all, she is the mother of the children who are fish. A woman’s amniotic fluid is akin to sea water and that is likened to all human beings hence she is Yemayá, the virgin Mary.
In Yoruba, the river is known to give life and she is the Orisha of the Ogun River, the largest in Yorubaland.
According to Newyorklatinculture, her association with the sea in Cuba and the Caribbean comes from her association with Olokun who reigns in the deep water. So many lost their lives in the realm of Olokun, that people turned to Yemayá for comfort, just like you turn to your mother for comfort.
In Caribbean Orisha faiths, Yemayá is syncretized (blended) with Our Lady of Regla.
Different traditions show different things and relate different things wrapped in images and traditions but these are all energies manifested of mother earth. There is no difference between Mother Earth, Yemayá, Our Lady of Regla and the Virgin Mary. They are all the same thing.
How can I see the Virgin of Regla in Spain?
Our Lady of Regla is venerated at the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Regla de Chipiona (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Regla of Chipiona). Her feast is September 8.
The church is near Cádiz, the main Andalusían Atlantic port where Spanish explorers and treasure galleons sailed to the Americas.
Legends claim the venerated statue was commissioned by Saint Augustine, (354-430), an African Roman philosopher from what is now Algeria.
When the Vandals took over North Africa, the statue was brought to Chipiona, Spain.
During the Moor’s conquest of Spain, the image was hidden in a well. It was rediscovered several hundred years later through a vision.
The statue’s survival of the Vandals and then the Moors were considered miraculous.
How can I see the Virgin of Regla in the Philippines?
Our Lady of Regla is venerated at the Our Lady of the Rule Church in Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines. Her feast is celebrated on November 21.
The Madonna is a copy of the original in Chipiona, Spain. She is carved from dark Philippine hardwood.
The devotion began in 1735 when the parish priest showed the faithful a painting of Our Lady. He was an Augustinian monk who served at Nuestra Señora de la Regla in Chipiona, Spain. The faithful accepted her, put a picture of her on the altar and miracles followed.
She received her canonical coronation on November 27, 1954.