There was some time for me to kill in between outing yesterday. The famous church was right there. I figured it would be nice if I could have a moment in prayer in such a beautiful environment. The sanctuary soon found me sitting in a pew staring at Caridad del Cobre, Our Lady of Charity. There were only two words that stood out in my mind for myself: love & compassion. Mother figures are able to offer such feelings to us so very well and I thought that this saint would be perfect to petition for such things. However, while my prayers rambled around my mind, there were fabulous things afoot around me.
A man came from the back meditation room, I beleive the sacraments are kept there, and kneeled in front of the altar. He remained on the floor for what seemed to be an eternity. He was in casual attire as was everyone else. The reverence, the faith, the moment…once he arose he saluted the cross and left. He beckoned to his friend in the meditation room. He promptly came out, deposited some cash into a box and left. Families continued to stream into the sanctuary. Mothers made the sign of the cross and directed the childrens’ attention to the saint. They sat in complete silence. Suddenly, a priest appeared in front of the altar and began speaking in Spanish. The people stood and began chanting which I took as my cue to quickly vacate the premesis.
I wandered outside to the ocean and sat for some time simply enjoying the sight of the water. Key Biscayne was off in the distance and my previous performances there crossed my mind. A nun was off to the right talking to a young girl. She reminded me of the nun that my father often talked about. He remembers looking up at his father’s funeral and saw the nun that offered him comfort in grad school. I think that she was dressed in blue. He will never forget her kindness. It is the same way that I will never forget observing how that man in the sanctuary shared his heart with the Lady of Charity.