I thank God for brining me a very cute kitten on a cold night. It’s been 12 years with him.

On her way to Zacatlan to sell flowers, Gregoria Lopez got her rear-end bitten by her donkey. It got inflamed. Since no remedy would help her, she prayed the Child of Atocha, and it got healed. She thanks for that with this retablo. 1917.

*** Garcia went to the cemetery to get drunk. He fell asleep. When he woke up he saw that the dead left their tombs. He was frightened and implored the Virgin of Guadalupe. Thanks to her protection he was able to escape from the cemetery safe and sound.

I love swimming in the sea. But one day I was caught by two mermaids who dragged me to the bottom of the sea with intentions of kidnapping me and making a shark bait from me. I prayed the Holy Heart, and it made a miracle of giving me enough strength so I could escape and save myself. I swam to the beach, and I thank for that. Now, to avoid this happening again, I swim one in the pool.

Whenever they came I kept a fried chicken ready for them. Thanks they don’t return anymore.

My wife decorated the house for the Day of the Dead, and according to her it was so beautiful that she wouldn’t remove the decorations. I was scared and disturbed feeling that the dead were watching me the whole time. I prayed to the Virgin of Guadalupe because I was not even able to read my newspaper peacefully. The Virgin helped me, and for Christmas my wife decided to change the decoration. And I truly don’t care if she wants to leave the nativity and the Christmas tree for the whole year.

Every January 17, I ask my new pupils to bring their pets to the class. Usually there are cats, dogs or some turtle, rat or parakeet. But this year one boy brought a crocodile. I thank the Virgin of San Juan for the animal didn’t attack anybody and the boy’s father took him away as soon as I called him. I grounded the boy for one week for being careless.

2 a.m., I was driving my taxi around the Xonaca neighborhood. Then a young beautiful nicely-dressed girl stopped me and asked me to drive to a place which turned out to be the Municipal Cemetery. She payed me and left, but instead of going towards the houses near by, she went to the cemetery. She wasn’t quite walking, more like floating. My passenger was a dead girl, so in this danger situation I prayed Our Lord Jesus Nazarene for protection. Thank God, nothing terrible happened. I brings this as a testimony of what happened in Puebla on October 1932.

Filemon Garcia T.

The Day of the Dead, we went to see the altars made in the town for the dead. When we passing near by the cemetery wall we noticed a very elegant couple. When we get closer we saw in the lantern light that they were nicely dressed skeletons. We were so frightened, we got sick of fear. We thank the Holy Virgin for curing us.

I was coming back from the Xochimilco market in my boat feeling very happy because I had bought at a very good price five beautiful piglets to start breeding pigs with. My boat was old and quite damaged, so it started drowning because of the big weight. My piglets and I started drowning also. Thanks to the miracle of the Virgin of Zapopan—whom I’m very devoted to—we managed to float until we were saved by a tourist trajinera-boat. Although I lost my boat, I’m grateful that we are still alive and didn’t drown.

I’m thankful to you, Saint Barbara, for blessing my kids and saving them from that demoniac encounter which happened while they were playing. They told me about it when they came home all pale and frightened.

Amanda Carril and kids
Campeche, 1938

I thank Saint Michael the Archangel with the present retablo for I won the prize and the first place at the town rodeo when I tamed a very angry bull that was famous for throwing everyone who tried to ride him.

Felipe Castillo ~ Tamazula, Durango