Jasinta Barrales, being very drunk, fell down on her way out of the saloon. She was also very fat so they couldn’t pick her up. Her friend La Pitaya (?) thanks Saint Charbel for they managed to drag Jasinta to her shack and she wasn’t arrested.

1925

Señora Carmen Ochoa thanks St. Charbel with this retablo because she was given an assistance dog so it’s more easily for her to walk.

I was selling cold beer at the wrestling arena. I was distracted and didn’t noticed that the wrestler Superpig jumped off the third rope on his opponents but almost fell on me instead. I thank Saint Charbel because I stepped away in time. Otherwise he would’ve squashed me and my bucket of beer.

Panfilo Garza

Monterrey, 1982

1908, Just Romero had met a nagual on arrival to Zacatlan. He entrusted himself to Saint Charbel and now thanks him for the nagual didn’t catch him and only stole his turkey.

Saint Charbel, thank you for your favors. I prayed you a lot so that I’d find my partner. We’d lived together for two years, and then he left me after he’d found out I had been cheating on him with another guy. I missed him and couldn’t resist to live on without him, so I went to search him. Finally I met him in a bar. I always imagined he’d be dressed in black. So it was, because he loves dressing up like this.

Martin Canto
Mexico City, 1978

M. and J. were having sex at the river, and his mother caught them. They thank Saint Charbel with this retablo for nobody else saw them.

The fireman German Linares went up a tree to save a cat but the cat attacked him instead. He almost lost his eye. German thanks Saint Charbel with all his devotion for the recovery.

Sandra Mendiola suffered a lot because her armpits were always sweaty and smelly. No deodorant was helping her. She gives thanks to San Charbel for after many prayers she found a solution using mix of nopal and vaseline. She doesn’t smell or wet her blouse anymore.

Luis M. spent the night in a hotel with someone whom he took for a woman but who turned out to be a man at the morning. Luis thanks Saint Charbel for nobody found out about this and promises to not pick up strangers anymore.

Fernando G. came home drunk. There we no light in the house, so he decided to change a bulb. He was hit by an electric current instead—he fell and broke his leg. He thanks Saint Charbel with this retablo for his recovery and for this accident made him stop drinking.

My wife and I, we were taking a nice calm walk in the park when suddenly, to my bad luck, we met my mistress. When the girls realized they were cheated on, they both jumped on me kicking like crazy. Thanks to Saint Charbel, there was a policeman near by, so he saved me. Otherwise, these women could’ve certainly sent me right to the hospital. I promised to behave good.

Inocencio Bueno
Mazatlan, Sinaloa

For stupidity, I asked for a lifeguard job without knowing how to swim. I thought it wouldn’t be very difficult and I could meet nice girls on the beach. But one day I almost drowned trying to save a lady who, I thought, was drowning. But she was only doing some exercises. I thank Saint Charbel because the lady knew how to swim and she saved me. So I’d better sell coconuts on the beach.

Abundio Prieto
Acapulco, 1994

Saint Charbel, thank you for protecting us. Three years after my husband had gone to work in USA, we went to visit him. There we celebrated a New Year with our son. Two days later he went to visit his friend and never came back. I had some money but they didn’t last long. We got broke very quickly. We have no money to pay for a room but one lady gave us a room in a semi-destroyed house. Later I found out that my husband lives with an American woman.

Fernanda Mendoza
Tijuana, 1960