(ANS - Manzanillo)- Maria Luisa Corrales is eighty-six years of age. She lives in Manzanillo, Cuba. Hanging on the wall of her house is a picture of Don Bosco that previously belonged to her mother. She has read a biography of the saint and now, every week, when they bring her Communion, she recounts some detail from the book. One day she showed us a booklet with her mother’s certificate as a Salesian Cooperator. In this way she developed a desire to get to know the history of the charism of Don Bosco in Manzanillo.

 by Ileana Planells Valdespino

Thanks to a donation from a nun, construction began in 1948 of a Chapel of St. John Bosco on nearby farmland. In 1949, when it still had an earthen floor, the chapel was used for catechism classes and for the celebration of the Eucharist. The priest who said the Mass and helped in catechesis was Fr Miguel Akdaz, known to all as Fr Miguelito.

The chapel was officially opened on 5 October 1950, with the arrival of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima in Manzanillo. It remained there for only a few days. After being received in the chapel, it was carried through the streets of the neighbourhood in the evening to be venerated and as a consequence it was affectionately called the "callejera".

In 1961, coinciding with the expulsion of priests from the country, the chapel was closed. In 1965, while it was still closed, some officials of the Department of Education came and asked for the keys to the chapel because they wanted to turn it into a school. However, the person who held the keys refused, thereby preventing them from taking possession of the premises.

In 1967 a group of faithful decided to reopen the doors of the chapel. This meant the resumption of catechism classes, and later, on Sundays, the celebration of the Liturgy of the Word, as well as puppet shows for entertainment.  The chapel remained in this condition until the arrival of Fr Rodolfo Sánchez, who started again to celebrate the Eucharist with a congregation of only seven.

In 1991 four Daughters of Mary Help of Christians arrived in Manzanillo. They continued the catechism classes and launched some new activities. This year they are celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco with the arrival of a new postulant, Oreste. They now have a group of twenty teenagers who are ready for the catechumenate and keen to deepen their Salesian spirituality, with the help of the sisters.

Published 14/07/2015