On the Day of the Dead, my grandmother and I went to the town for the mass. On our way back some skeletons from the cemetery began to chase us. They were near us when my grandmother turned and whacked them with her cane. The skeletons fell to pieces, and our dog was happy to see so many bones. I thank the Virgin of Zapopan for such a brave grandmother.

A mermaid fell in love with my fiancé Jose Luis. She got so jealous, she grabbed my hair trying to take me to the bottom of the sea to drown me. I thank the Virgin of Zapopan because she gave Jose Luis enough strong to pull me out, so I wasn’t taken by the mermaid.

Since my wife started her diet, she began sleepwalking at the nights. She went to the kitchen and brought cookies, cakes and fruits in the bed. When she finished with this, she went to take more. In the mornings she didn’t remember her night adventures and thought it was me who brought all the food. I thank the Virgin of Zapopan because my wife finished her diet because by her opinion she became notably thinner. And she stopped sleepwalking.

My wife loves the cats. She brings every stray cat she found to our house. It’s not that I don’t like that cats. But she used to let them sleep in our bedroom. They didn’t sleep, they played and jumped all night. My wife sleeps like a log, and I started to see hallucinations because of lack of sleep. I thank the Virgin of Zapopan because my wife noticed the dark circles under my eyes. She locks the cats in the living room now, and I finally sleep peacefully.

My bedroom was filled with rats. They came out every night, and I was scared to go to the bathroom because they could have gotten in my bed. My cats though were so lazy, they didn’t catch them and slept all the time. Thanks to my prayers to the Virgin of Zapopan she gave me an idea to ask my neighbor for her cat. Her cat got through with the rats in one night. My cats were ashamed and now they stay awake at night and patrol the house so I have no more rats.

I went to take the tray with the breakfast for my mummy who was sick. When I was coming down the stairs and seeing that she hadn’t eaten anything. I didn’t notice the Jorgito’s ball. I slipped and fell in a very bad manner. I couldn’t move. I prayed the Virgin of Zapopan to not remain paralyze. And she worked the miracle. I only felt some pain and had few bruises.

I had some doubts about marrying Arturo. I asked the Virgin to give me a sign, if I shouldn’t marry him. At the day of the wedding, when we were already in the church as a serious earthquake began. I figured it was a sign form the heaven to not marry Arturo. I thank the Virgin of Zapopan for saving me from an unhappy marriage.

After leaving the town few years ago, when his bride had died on the way to the church, Roberto Mendival came back, full of memories. Since it was the Day of the Dead, he went to put some flowers on his late beloved one’s grave. He stayed over there till dark, reflecting about how it all could have gone different. Suddenly he heard some noise. He saw the dead men leaving their graves. And his bride Clara, who had turned into a skeleton, was among them. She saw her groom and hugged him. Other skeletons prepared everything for a wedding and were looking for a dead priest to conduct the ceremony. Although Roberto had feelings for his bride, he wasn’t into marrying the dead woman at all. He prayed to the Virgin of Zapopan, and the Virgin hastened the hour of the dawn. With the cockcrowing, the dead men rushed to their graves, and Roberto didn’t have to link his life with a skeleton. He thanks for that.

Rosita and Antonia ran across each other when they came out the market. They talked about the handsome boys of the town. Suddenly two skeletons appeared from the abandon house that the girls were standing near by. The skeletons began to flirt with them and to pay compliments. They asked the girls for a date, and the scared girls prayed to the Virgin of Zapopan for saving them. They ran and hid in the church. Afterwards, the sexton, don Abundio, accompanied them to their house. They thank for that.

On her third year in the boarding school, Dorita Martinez started to sleep-walking. She and her little sister Sandra prayed to the Virgin of Zapopan for curing Dorita because the nuns had told that if she wouldn’t stop sleep-walking they’d send her back home before the end of the school year. And Dorita was bored in her village. They thank the Virgin because she got cured.

Guadalajara, Jalisco
June 9, 1959

My dog Enrriqueta got lost and I prayed to the Virgin of Zapopan every night so that she would save her from danger and bring her home. One day I was coming back from a mass, and I met my dog in the alley. She got four puppies. I thank the Virgin because now I take care of them and they give me joy.

Seferino Valderrama fell asleep with a cigarette. In his dream he saw the Virgin of Zapopan who told him “Wake up, my son! You’re in danger!” He woke up and saw that his blanket was on fire. He ran to the kitchen for water and extinguished the fire. He thanks for this amazing miracle with this retablo.

January 25, 1943