Hemingway offered his Noble Prize for Literature medallion to the Virgin Mary

Ernest Hemingway by Karsh of Ottawa

Hemingway offered his Noble Prize for Literature medallion to the Virgin Mary


Hemingway offered his Noble medallion to the Virgin Mary at the shrine of Caridad Del Cobre and laid it at her feet to keep a secret promise.  

Ernest Hemingway's   hero, Santiago, the fishing captain  from his famous book, Old Man and  the Sea,  prays: Hail Mary, and Our Father. These are the prayers Santiago recites ‘should I catch this fish’.  Santiago also promises to make a pilgrimage to the Virgin De Cobre (Our Lady of Charity from Cuba) if he catches the fish.

Furthermore, The Virgin De Cobre and the Scared Heart of Jesus,  pictures of both the Virgin De Cobre and the Scared Heart of Jesus are the only adornments in Santiago’s shack. The pictures were the relics of the late wife of Santiago.

Most folks are familiar with the religious and Catholic overtones of Old Man and the Sea,  but  few are aware of the connection to Santiago's fictional promise to the Virgin De Cobre  and Hemingways' authentic gift to the Virgin Mary.   It is likely Ernest Hemingway made the same  promise to himself that Santiago made,  "if he should catch this fish".   After winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954,   (which he won for writing The Old Man and the Sea,)  clearly the big fish - the prize  he had pursued,   he  made his own pligrimage to the shrine of Caridad del Cobre in Cuba and offered  his Nobel prize award, a medallion, to  the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Interestingly this was not the first time Ernest Hemingway had the Virgin Mary on his mind. Years before giving up his Nobel Prize to the Virgin De Cobre,  Hemingway had gone to the bullfights in Zaragoza, Spain. It was there that he witnessed the Pilar shrine.

Our Lady of the Pillar  is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary for her claimed appearance in Spain. Her shrine  that moved Hemingway is in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, by the river Ebro. According to legend, in the early days of the Church, the Apostle James the Greater was evangelizing the Gospel in Caesaraugusta, but his mission was making little progress until miraculously, he saw Mary committing him to Jerusalem. In his vision, she was atop a column or pillar, which was being carried by angels. That pillar is believed to be the same one venerated in Zaragoza today. Miraculous healings have been reported at the scene. This is the only known apparition of Mary to have occurred before her Assumption. 

After Hemingway's time in Spain he returned to the States and bought a fishing boat.  The boat which would eventually inspire him to write "Old Man in the Sea" was named Pilar.  Hemingway's beloved boat was named after the apparitions in Zaragoza.

 Hemingway's famous boat is now a popular tourist destination in Cuba.