The Cuban American community of Los Angeles warmly welcomed visiting Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros of Brooklyn as he presided at this year's annual Mass in honor of the patroness of Cuba, Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre.

The archdiocesan liturgy took place at Holy Family Church in Glendale Sept. 16, during which the bishop blessed the parish's new statue of Our Lady of Charity, in honor of the church's pastoral ministry to many Cuban Americans living in the community. More than 1,000 people packed the church.

"Our Lady of Charity accompanied us during [Cuba's] movements for independence," said Bishop Cisneros. "Today she also accompanies us in the valley of tears and of exile."

The bishop --- a Cuban native and a Pedro Pan youth refugee following the Cuban Communist revolution in 1959 --- encouraged Cubans to defend human rights at all levels and to support a culture of life from the moment of conception until death.

The bishop, who serves a vice postulator for the sainthood cause of Cuban Father Félix Varela, praised the late priest for serving as the conscience of the Cuban nation during its early yearnings for independence from Spain. After Father Varela was exiled and found refuge in New York City, "he served and gave himself to the poor," particularly to waves of Irish immigrants, said the bishop.

The example of Father Varela, said the bishop, is that Cubans in the Diaspora can continue to contribute to a better Cuba even while in exile by "living a committed Catholic life without forgetting the poor."

Antonia Fernandez, a parishioner at Our Lady of Peace Church in North Hills, said it was prayers to Our Lady of Charity that helped her persevere after Cuba become communist and she and her husband were separated for a time. Eventually he was able to leave the island and join her in the U.S.

"The Virgin gave us that," said Fernandez. "It was a miracle."

---Ellie Hidalgo