HAVANA (AP) — Thousands of Cubans flocked to the Rincón Sanctuary on Tuesday, on the outskirts of Havana, to pay promises or pay tribute to San Lázaro or Babalú Aye during a pilgrimage that combines the Catholic and Afro-Cuban traditions of Santería.

Saint Lázaro or Babalú Aye or simply “The Old Man” is one of the most recognized figures of island spirituality within the Christian tradition or Afro-Cuban Santeria. "He is a very miraculous saint. I have all faith in him," Pedro Luis Echemendía, a 29-year-old independent worker, told The Associated Press as he arrived on his knees to the doors of the temple.

Echemendía, like several of the people consulted by the AP, said they were asking for health and prosperity, precisely in a Cuban scenario marked these months by a strong epidemic of chikungunya and dengue, as well as a harsh economic crisis.

The Sanctuary of El Rincón is located about 25 kilometers from the center of the capital and every year on December 16 and 17 – this last day is the official commemoration – it receives crowds of devout people dressed in violet or with candles of that color in their hands.

Entire families with their children, dressed in Santería necklaces and with violet religious decorations – which identify Babalú Aye – or flowers slowly approach the small church.

Some walk normally, others crawl or move on their knees to pay a promise.

On the outskirts of the temple, priests give them a blessing and a mass is usually held. On Tuesday afternoon, Juan de la Caridad García, the archbishop of Havana and who was named cardinal by the late Pope Francis, was even among them, as confirmed by the AP.

In recent weeks and after reports that reported some viruses that caused fevers, headaches and left inflation and joint pain for a long time, the authorities recognized that a joint epidemic of two diseases transmitted by mosquitoes was occurring: dengue and chikungunya.

The Ministry of Health reported that there were 47 deaths from these two viruses. It is estimated that dengue infections amounted to about 25,000 people and that of chikungunya almost 45,000.

The epidemiological situation worsened in the context of a harsh economic crisis that affects the island and that has put the health sector in check with a lack of supplies and medicines, as well as budget for infrastructure.

“Faith is great, that is why so many people are here,” he told the AP. Lázara Salgado, a 39-year-old housewife who usually comes every year. “Now we don't have medicine, but we have faith.”

In Cuban Santería Babalú Aye or “The Old Man” syncretizes with two figures from the Catholic saints: Saint Lazarus the Bishop, whom Jesus resurrected according to the Bible, and the Lazarus of the parable, the poor man, overwhelmed by leprosy, dressed in jute sacks, with his crutches and followed by his dogs. In Afro-Cuban tradition he is identified as a deity related to diseases.

Among the parishioners who showed up at the Sanctuary in the town of El Rincón on Tuesday were some celebrities, such as the star boxing champion Julio César La Cruz.

“I am a devotee of San Lázaro,” La Cruz told the AP. “I knelt there and asked for health for the people of Cuba, not just for my family.”

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