About Shrine of Our Lady of Charity · Miami, Florida
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity (Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad), popularly known as La Ermita de la Caridad, is a Roman Catholic national shrine on Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida, dedicated to the Cuban patroness Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre. Administered by the Archdiocese of Miami, it serves the large Cuban-American community of South Florida and pilgrims from across the United States, with daily Mass celebrated in Spanish, daily confessions, perpetual devotional life, and an annual feast-day celebration on September 8. The conical, 90-foot-tall structure emulates the spreading mantle of the statue of the Virgin, while a mural by Cuban artist Teok Carrasco and soil from Cuba's six historic provinces embedded under the altar link the building to the island's faith and history.
- Established
- 1973
- Patron
- Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre (Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre), patroness of Cuba
- Rector
- Rev. José Joaquín Espino
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Miami
Why belong here
La Ermita is the spiritual heart of the Cuban-American Catholic community in South Florida and the only national Marian shrine between Orlando and the Caribbean. Pilgrims come for the daily Spanish-language Mass and confessions in a building that physically embodies their history — soil from every Cuban province under the altar, a mural by a Nipe-born artist, and a replica of the statuette smuggled out of Cuba in 1961. Beyond its profound cultural meaning for Cubans in exile, the shrine offers a full sacramental life (daily Mass, generous confession hours, monthly First Friday adoration), hosts the annual September 8 feast-day celebration with the Archbishop of Miami, and serves recent migrants from Cuba and elsewhere with pastoral and material care through the Daughters of Charity and the Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre.
Mass times at Shrine of Our Lady of Charity
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Monday–Saturday: 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
- Monday–Saturday: 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
- Sunday: 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
- Sunday: 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Adoration times
- First Friday of the month: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM (except Christmas and New Year)
History of the Shrine
La Ermita's history is inseparable from the modern history of the Cuban exile. Devotion to Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre dates to 1612, when three young men — two Indigenous brothers and an enslaved African child — were caught in a storm on the Bay of Nipe and found a dry statuette of the Virgin floating on the waves. A chapel was built in El Cobre; the image was crowned in 1936; declared Cuba's patroness by Pope Benedict XV in 1916; and her sanctuary raised to basilica status by Pope Paul VI in 1977. After Castro's revolution, 130 priests and a bishop were expelled and churches were seized; on September 8, 1960 the Archdiocese of Havana smuggled a replica of the statuette out via the Italian embassy and then through the Panamanian embassy. Thirty thousand exiles welcomed the image in Miami on September 8, 1961, after which it toured the camps of Operation Peter Pan. The Archdiocese of Miami, led by Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll, donated land on Biscayne Bay; on September 8, 1966 he asked the Cuban community to build a shrine, with Father Agustín Román leading the fundraising. The cornerstone was laid in 1967 and Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia dedicated the building on December 2, 1973. The altar was consecrated by Archbishop John C. McCarthy on May 14, 1994, with soil from Cuba's six provinces and raft-borne seawater sealed beneath it. On September 8, 2000 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declared it a National Shrine.
- 1612: statuette found floating in Bay of Nipe by three youths
- 1916: Pope Benedict XV declares Our Lady of Charity patroness of Cuba
- 1936: original image crowned during the Santiago Eucharistic Congress
- 1959: Castro's revolution; mass expulsion of clergy
- Sept 8, 1960: replica smuggled out of Cuba through the Italian and Panamanian embassies
- Sept 8, 1961: 30,000 exiles greet the image in Miami
- 1966: Archbishop Carroll calls on Cuban exiles to build a shrine
- 1967: cornerstone laid
- 1973-12-02: Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia dedicates the shrine
- 1975: Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul arrive
- 1977: El Cobre sanctuary raised to basilica by Paul VI
- 1979: Father Agustín Román ordained first Cuban auxiliary bishop in the U.S.
- 1994-05-14: Archbishop McCarthy consecrates the altar
- 1998: Pope John Paul II crowns the image queen and patroness of Cuba
- 2000-09-08: USCCB designates the Miami site a National Shrine
- 2012-04-11: founder Bishop Agustín Román dies
- 2022-12-02: Archbishop Wenski opens jubilee year for 50th anniversary
Architecture and Sacred Art
The shrine is a 90-foot-high, 80-foot-wide conical concrete structure elevated 14 feet above sea level, deliberately shaped like the spreading mantle of the Virgin — a visual echo of the Marian prayer 'Under your mantle we seek shelter, Holy Mother of God.' Six massive columns support the canopy, each representing one of Cuba's six historic traditional provinces. Beneath the altar lies a composite stone of earth, sand and rock from those six provinces, mixed with seawater carried from a refugee raft on which fifteen people died at sea, sealing the Cuban diaspora into the very fabric of the building. Behind the altar the main mural, painted by Cuban artist Teok Carrasco of Nipe, reaches nearly to the apex of the cone and surrounds the replica statuette with scenes of Cuban history and a large painted rendering of Mary holding the Christ Child above the waters. The original small chapel on the site has been remodeled into a convent for the Daughters of Charity and now forms part of the adjacent Padre Félix Varela Building, used as a gathering place for pilgrims. A life-size metal statue of founder Bishop Agustín Román watches over the grounds.
- Conical form, 90 ft high × 80 ft wide, 14 ft above sea level
- Six columns = Cuba's six historic provinces
- Composite stone under the altar: soil from each Cuban province + raft-borne seawater
- Mural by Teok Carrasco of Nipe (the bay of the 1612 miracle)
- Replica statuette of Our Lady of Charity holding the Child Jesus
- First chapel now forms part of the Padre Félix Varela Building
- Metal statue of Bishop Agustín Román on the grounds
Mass, Sacraments and Devotional Schedule
All scheduled Masses at the shrine are celebrated in Spanish. Weekday Mass is offered Monday through Saturday at 12:00 PM and again at 8:00 PM. On Sunday Mass is offered at 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM; the Sunday 3:00 PM Mass is livestreamed on the shrine's web, Facebook and YouTube channels. Confessions are heard in Spanish six days a week: Monday through Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 AM and again from 4:00 to 5:30 PM, and on Sunday from 9:30 to 10:45 AM and 4:30 to 5:30 PM. Eucharistic Adoration is held on the First Friday of each month from 9:00 to 11:00 AM (except Christmas and New Year). The annual highlight is the September 8 feast of Our Lady of Charity, with veneration of the statue, rosary, procession, and Solemn Mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Miami.
- Daily Mass (Mon–Sat): 12:00 PM and 8:00 PM, Spanish
- Sunday Mass: 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM (livestreamed), 6:00 PM, Spanish
- Confessions: Mon–Sat 10:30–11:30 AM and 4:00–5:30 PM; Sun 9:30–10:45 AM and 4:30–5:30 PM
- Adoration: First Friday, 9:00–11:00 AM
- Annual Feast of Our Lady of Charity: September 8
The Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre
The Archicofradía de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre is the lay association that animates much of the shrine's devotional and cultural life. Archbishop Wenski has publicly thanked the archconfraternity — together with the priests, Daughters of Charity and employees — for their missionary work, generosity and service through the shrine, especially during the jubilee year that began December 2, 2022. The archconfraternity carries forward the devotion that began in El Cobre more than four centuries ago and now sustains La Ermita as a working national shrine and pilgrimage destination.
- Archcofradía de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre
- Lay leadership of the annual feast-day celebration
- Pilgrim hospitality and catechesis
Pilgrimage and Visiting
Open every day for prayer, Mass, confession and catechesis, the shrine functions as a continuous pilgrimage site for the Cuban-American community of South Florida and for visiting Catholics from elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad. On weekends many devotees make a mini-pilgrimage of it, and on the September 8 feast tens of thousands gather for the procession and Solemn Mass with the Archbishop of Miami. The shrine is also a living reception point for new Cuban and other migrants arriving in Miami, who are welcomed, accompanied and helped by the pastoral team. The first chapel on the site — now the Padre Félix Varela Building — serves as the gathering and hospitality center for pilgrims.
- Open daily for prayer, Mass, confession and catechesis
- Annual September 8 procession and Solemn Mass with the Archbishop
- Reception and pastoral accompaniment of new migrants
- Padre Félix Varela Building as pilgrim gathering space
Jubilee Year 2022–2023 (50th Anniversary)
On December 2, 2022, the 50th anniversary of the shrine's dedication, Archbishop Thomas Wenski opened a jubilee 'year of grace' at La Ermita. During this jubilee year the Pope granted a plenary indulgence to the faithful who attended sacred rites at the shrine and fulfilled the usual conditions (confession, reception of Communion, and prayer for the Pope's intentions). The opening Mass was concelebrated with Bishop Dionisio García Ibáñez, Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba — the diocese of El Cobre — together with Bishop Enrique Delgado, Father Espino and other archdiocesan priests. A representative of Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar presented Archbishop Wenski with a congressional proclamation recognizing La Ermita as a local and national cultural, tourist and religious icon. The jubilee was also an opportunity to plan physical renovations of the building after half a century of daily use.
- Dec 2, 2022 – Dec 2, 2023: jubilee year of the 50th anniversary
- Plenary indulgence granted by the Holy Father
- Congressional proclamation from Rep. María Elvira Salazar
- Plans for renovation of the shrine building
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Since 1975 the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul have maintained a presence at La Ermita, occupying the convent created from the shrine's original small chapel (now part of the Padre Félix Varela Building). Their long-running service to the Cuban exile community at the shrine is one of the institutional pillars of La Ermita's daily pastoral and charitable life, alongside the priests and the Archconfraternity.
- Daughters of Charity on site since 1975
- Resident sisters: Sor Inés Espinosa, Sor Elvira García, Sor Eva Pérez Puelles
- Charitable and pastoral outreach to pilgrims and migrants
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Agustín Román (later Bishop Agustín Román)1966–2003 (retired; died 2012-04-11)
Founder of the shrine; one of the Cuban priests expelled by Castro; led fundraising and construction; ordained auxiliary bishop in 1979, the first Cuban to become a bishop in the U.S.
- Rev. Juan Rumin
Listed among the shrine's rectors on the official shrine rectors page.
- Rev. Fernando Eduardo Hería2016–2022
Fourth Rector of the National Shrine Ermita de la Caridad.
- Rev. José Joaquín Espino2022–present
Fifth Rector, appointed February 1, 2022 by Archbishop Thomas Wenski; also serves as archdiocesan liaison with Caritas Cuba; a Pedro Pan refugee who arrived in Miami in 1961.
