Our Region

Catholicism is the traditional religion, coming to Cuba with the Spanish colonizers. The first Catholic temple that existed in the current municipality of Colón functioned in the town of Guamutas since the late 17th century. It was called San Hilario (now demolished) and officiated the religious services there because this area is the center of local livestock and the cutting of precious woods by the Royal Spanish Navy.

The birth of Nueva Bermeja on August 8, 1836 led to the creation, one year later, of a Catholic temple of precious woods. Said temple or Parish Church controlled until 1885, when civil registries emerged, all the documentation of births, deaths, marriages, baptisms, population censuses and the sale of properties, being therefore the spiritual center of the territory. In addition to the religiosity that he defended, he played an important role in the past in the organization of fairs, dance events, and the operation of schools (Catholic Student City Félix Varela) and the orphan girls' shelter La Caridad (current Enrique Hart Elementary) . It also has a Parish Archive where the oldest documents of the city are found, and which provides valuable services to the population in need of some document, as well as to historians in their research on past history.

The practice of Catholicism by several generations of Colombians led the faithful to carry out processions with the image of La Caridad del Cobre in the fields damaged by droughts and with the image of San Isidro Labrador to the farmland during the persistence. of storms, while inside their houses, the young women placed the image of Saint Anthony with their heads down to facilitate the discovery of a boyfriend. The use of the prayer of San Luis Beltrán to cure people and animals of diseases and evil eyes persists, and of the prayer of San Alejo against strong winds associated with local storms, tornadoes and hurricanes that were supported by the placement cross scissors behind doors and windows, tie a stone with wire to a tree to tie the Devil and make three crosses of wood or coal ashes under the eaves of the huts and thus prevent the occurrence of rains; as well as other prayers destined to the healing of hernias in the abdomen and the soreness by ingestion.

It also generated superstitions brought by the conquerors of the Old Continent and fused for centuries with aboriginal legends and African mythology. There are still Colombians who believe in fatalities and bad omens announced by the song of the owls and gorse on or near the houses, the song of a hen as a rooster, the entrance to a house of a tatagua or witch butterfly, seeing a cat black in the dark, rocking a chair without someone sitting in it, sitting with your hands on your head, sitting on a table, placing a hat on the bed, observing a chicken fight (certain women's anger), the occurrence of a whirlpool around the house, inside the patio or crossroads in moments of calm, the exposure of a pregnant woman to a lunar eclipse, responsible for the fetus being born with a blood angioma on her face, etc.

The municipality today has two Parish Churches called San José, one in the city and the other in San José de los Ramos. Smaller churches in the capital itself and the towns of Banagüises, Mexico, Sergio González, Guareiras and Santa Gertrudis, and the San Alberto Seminary also in the city.

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