“The child of Mary and the follower of Jesus Christ always forgives and always unites,” Father Ernesto Alonso-Aguila told the faithful in celebrating the annual Mass in honor of Our Lady of Charity.

The Mass, a Cuban tradition, was celebrated on the afternoon of Sunday, September 8. It is planned by the archdiocesan Our Lady of Charity Committee and the Archdiocese of New York’s Office of Hispanic Ministry.

“Dear brothers and sisters, it is a joy for me that this is the second year that I’m celebrating this Mass with you – the Mass in honor of Our Lady of Charity del Cobre, patroness of Cuba,” Father Alonso-Aguila, parochial vicar at St. Leo Church in Corona, Queens (Diocese of Brooklyn), said early in his homily. The Cuba-born priest went on to talk about the faithful significance of Our Lady of Charity for Cubans on the island nation and the Cuban community in the U.S.

“Mary has always come to all the peoples of the Americas with just one mission, just one – and it is the mission of uniting and reconciling. … Wherever Mary appears, it is to unite her children, to reconcile,” the priest said, noting that Mother Mary intends to establish “peace and forgiveness.” He added there cannot be a true follower of Christ “who does not forgive.”

“And there cannot be a child of Mary nor a follower of her Son who does not want to unite, who holds a grudge in his heart, for whatever reason,” Father Alonso-Aguila said. “The child of Mary and the follower of Jesus Christ always forgives, and always unites. … Mary has united us all here this afternoon; we are one united in Christ. Mary is the Mother of the Redeemer, the Mother of Reconciliation.”

In addition, the priest spoke of misguided, anti-democratic ideologies that have caused unrest in his beloved Cuba and other countries. “What we need is to unite ourselves and reconcile, all of us, like brothers and sisters – following the examples of Mary,” he said, also citing the importance of each of us carrying his or her cross, the significance of salvation, and trusting in the Lord. “After the cross, comes salvation.”

Father Brian McWeeney, archdiocesan director of the Ethnic Apostolate, served as concelebrant of the Mass, which was livestreamed. The choir hymns included “God is Love,” “Lift Up the Cross,” and “A New Commandment.”

In 1612, an African slave and two indigenous Cubans rowed a boat to collect salt in the Bay of Nipe; they spotted a 16-inch statue of Mary on a tablet floating on the waves. In the statue’s left hand was baby Jesus, and in the right a cross. A sign beneath the statue said, “I am the Virgin of Charity.” The statue’s clothing was miraculously dry.

“For us Cubans, this word (charity) has a great and beautiful meaning because it is the name of our Mother and Patroness. Our Lady of Charity, as an image, is a symbol of the cubanía (that which pertains to all things Cuban) that unites all Cubans, believers and unbelievers alike,” Archbishop Dionisio G. García Ibáñez of Santiago de Cuba wrote in 2012 in anticipation of a papal visit from Pope Benedict XVI that year, the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the statue. Archbishop Garcia was then-president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba.