The eternal rest of Celia Cruz at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York, now has a new spiritual presence since Friday: a replica of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, brought from the Shrine of Charity in Miami, placed in her mausoleum as a tribute to the faith that the Queen of Salsa upheld throughout her life.
The gesture was the work of Omer Pardillo Cid, the historical manager of the singer and current executor of her estate, according to information shared on the artist's Instagram account, where the image of the Virgin and the interior of the mausoleum is shown in a video featuring “Just in case I don't return,” one of the most beloved songs of the interpreter.
"Celia always maintained a deep devotion to the Virgin; since the construction of her mausoleum, she has been accompanied by a stained glass window gifted by her friends Cristina Saralegui and Marcos Ávila. Now, her manager Omer Pardillo Cid has placed this figure in honor of Celia's faith, reaffirming the spiritual peace and the legacy that continue to surround the Queen of Salsa," the post describes.
The mausoleum, which Celia shares with her husband, the trumpeter Pedro Knight -who passed away in 2007, four years after her- already featured that stained glass window of the patroness of Cuba on its back wall since its construction.
Above Celia's vault are permanent attributes including a small framed Cuban flag, a crucifix, and a rosary representing her Catholic faith, as well as a photo of her with an afro hairstyle from her time in New York.
The addition of this three-dimensional replica adds a new layer of devotion to the space, which has over the years become a place of pilgrimage for admirers and fellow countrymen.
The figure comes from the Hermitage of Charity in Miami, located in Coconut Grove, the main sanctuary of the Cuban diaspora in the United States, and whose image arrived clandestinely from Cuba in 1961.
For Celia, the Virgin of Charity was not just the patroness of her homeland: in 1968, she recorded the song "Virgen de la Caridad," and the image of the Cuban patroness was present during key moments of her public and private life.
Pardillo Cid, who took over the management of Celia's career in 1998 and founded the Celia Cruz Foundation in 2002, has been the primary guardian of her posthumous legacy: he has organized exhibitions, donated archives to universities, and kept commemorative events around the artist active.
The Virgin of Charity of El Cobre is a symbol of unity for Cubans both on the island and abroad.
Her presence in the mausoleum of the Queen of Salsa reinforces the bond between faith, Cuban identity, and the memory of an artist who could never return to her homeland but carried it with her until the very last moment.
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