My name is Ivony Recasen Fajardo, and I am a spiritist worker in Santiago de Cuba. I am also a disciple of the evangelical spiritist alliance formed throughout Brazil.  

The foundations of Amor à la Moral were laid in 1919. Reconstruction of the centre began in 1927. The first president of Amor à la Moral was Armando Payas. When he founded the Society for Moral and Psychological Studies, its structure consisted of members. It was generally composed of theosophists, Freemasons and scholars of spiritualist teachings. He then emigrated to the United States and settled in Miami in a place called ‘The Kardec Bookstore’.

There Amor a la Moral spread and promoted doctrinal studies and everything related to spiritism. Then, around 1932, Brother Rodolfo Álvarez, now deceased, took over. This temple became widely known for its work, and it is even known that in 1937 the spiritist congress was held in Santiago de Cuba at the Oriente theatre. Amor a la Moral was practically the host of the spiritist congress, which at that time was called the Spiritist Congress, to the extent that Amor a la Moral's work had such an impact that there were letters written in Amalia Domingo Soler's own handwriting. Elvira Cape, the wife of Tomás Román, also visited this temple during those years. There came a time when the temple began to deteriorate physically and the president did not have the financial means to repair it. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit Santiago de Cuba, leaving the temple completely devastated. What was left of the congregation took what they could and, as they say, cannibalised it. All that remained were some benches and the image of Allan Kardec.  

There were also people who belonged to other religions and who, in their fanaticism, broke Amalia Domingo Soler's painting. Amalia Domingo Soler's letters were burned. They destroyed them, as well as the bust of Allan Kardec. The books that made up a library, a display case with very old books, were also burned. Everything disappeared, that is, the material part of the temple, because spiritually its roots are very deep. Only a few mosaics on the floor remained. The people who were part of Amor a la Moral, three of them, are now very, very old.  

Two of them still have a clear mind, and they are the ones who helped me to reproduce at least the members who were there at that time. They still have the names and surnames recorded in a little notebook, and through them I have been able to get an overview of what the structure of the temple was like, how they worked and what tasks they performed. Then, due to the need in Santiago de Cuba to find a place where spiritism could have doctrinal study, to talk about where we come from, why we are on earth and where we are going. So I began to look for this need for a house or a place. I approached the Ministry of Justice, and they told me about the Amor a la Moral property, which was a place where there had previously been a temple, but it was all in ruins. The question was where to apply to rebuild it, so that it could be the headquarters of the psychological studies society. God put people in my path who led me to the successor of Amor a la Moral in Miami, United States.

Norberto Prieto sent me books that he had stored in Miami, which tell the story of spiritualism in Cuba. A brother and president of the Spiritist Federation of Camagüey visited us here at home, because we are meeting temporarily while the temple is being built. He came and took some books that tell the story of spiritualism in Camagüey. They were given to him so that they could also enrich their history. With God, everything he brought was Love for Morality, of course, with new collaborators, including the Spiritist Association – Nuevo Renacer. 

I have to take advantage of the land and plant the seeds. When I said that the society was created to bring together all those interested in spiritism as love and charity, and that all we were going to do was provide free assistance to the sick through well-established mediumship, and that we had to study, the 65 members I started with left. It did not meet their interests. There are usually four of us here, but the work and labour of Love for Morality is spreading far beyond these four brothers that we are. Every Saturday here at 3 p.m., I am with God's help. I recovered Allan Kardec's photo, which was drawn for me in pencil step by step. The glass to cover the photo came to me from Camagüey.  

They also brought me a frame so I could hang the painting. So everything has gone well, every step has been a triumph in the name of God. It is a joy because it is like winning to see a work being built. Amor a la Moral is a well-known temple when I go to different provinces, very elderly people speak with very fond memories of Amor a la Moral. It left a serious mark on the history of spiritism in people's hearts because of the work that was done in that temple. Now the new generation has begun, and I am sure that with God and the favour of the good spirits, we are already working on that. I have the task of revitalising the society of psychological studies of moral labour. To recover everything from their spiritual and material life.  

The centre is located in the historic centre of Santiago de Cuba, at 410 San Agustín Street, between San Francisco and San Jerónimo. 

IT IS POINTLESS TO PRAY TO GOD AND STILL HURT OTHERS! - CHICO XAVIER