When Gregoria Coyotzi was gathering wood, she received a blow in her bottom from her donkey. It broke her coccyx, and she was feeling very bad. She implored the Virgin of San Juan and got recovered. She’s infinitely thankful for that.

Puebla, 1914

Panfilo Guzman brings this retablo to the Souls of the Purgatory because no one has seen how I like dancing with my pig Ququis.

Zacatecas, 1947

I give thanks to the Holy Cross. We were going to San Felipe square when suddenly Filemon, my donkey, got mad from fear and created a real havoc. Then the señor gendarme wanted to arrest him but the donkey was carrying all my goods. But God spoke to his heart, and he let us go.

A strange plant had grown behind the wall fence of my garden. One day my cats were lying on the border enjoying the sun, and the plant caught them. I ran to help them but the plant trapped me as well. Thanks to the Holy Spirit I had big garden scissors in the pocket of my apron. I cut the stems and freed my cats. Later my husband pulled the plant with roots.

I thank the Virgin of Guadalupe for letting me arrive in time to not allow my kitty to make a mistake listening the indecorous offers from an ugly stray cat who had approached her. My kitty is very refined, and I want her descendants to be from a pedigree cat, — not from any cat. I’m going to find a fiancé worthy of her.

Thanks, Virgin, because after having walked till my friend’s feet bled he finally found a house near the central station where we two could live. In this way he saved me from the house of the narcos where I had lived for a year and he saved himself from the love he had lost in the house where he had lived with his dog before.

I dedicate this retablo to Saint Nicholas of Bari for the talent that the actor Bruce Davidson has. When I was a child I saw the movie “Willard”. As a result, I have a deadly fear of rats. I hope Bruce doesn’t suffer from the same fear after having shot this horrifying but marvelous movie.

Cesar Lopez — Mexico City

A woman appeared from the corn and healed all the animals. Thanks for this luck.

We are afraid of nothing. The Virgin looks after us.

The pig Luis is making sculptures. Take care of him, Saint John.

To avoid hitting a girl with a dog I made a sudden turn and almost crashed into a train. Only by a miracle of the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe my car stopped just in few millimeters from the train. I’m offering this retablo in gratitude on the day 30th of September 1957.

The scientist Alejandro Castañedo thanks Saint Francis with this retablo for the good laboratory results in his research on scorpions, although he was stung few times.

When it’s very cold, I take my sheep and let them sleep in my bed to keep me warm. Beside the warmth I receive gratitude from them because they feel very comfortable in my bed. I thank Saint Francis because my sheep are so loving and docile.