Thank you, Saint Jude Thaddeus, for all your favors. It started raining, and I, on my way home, had to cross the river. The rain was getting stronger, and I couldn’t get out of the current. My horse and I, we tried another time and got out but the horse stumbled and fell on me. My rib was broken, but I got better after I had an operation.

Blas Gallegos
Puebla, 1965

[…] a lady with a cow […] and a boy who was looking for his dog. I implored the Virgin of Guadalupe because I had no time to brake. The next moment they went out the tracks. I thank for that because I couldn’t have lived with such a massacre weighing on my conscious.

My little daughter is a very good swimmer, but I still worried that she might swim far and couldn’t get back to the shore. So I thank the Holy Child because our faithful dog became her nanny and it brings her back every time after swimming. With such a helper I can rest and do not worry very much.

The Luis and Manolito Martinez’s dog had puppies, but the boys’ father threw them out. Thanks to Saint Francis the boys found the puppies in an alley when they were on their way to the school. They were able to save them because the dog of one of their classmates adopted them. Now the puppies are big and strong.

When my husband went to work at the north, I felt very lonely and started to play guitar outside at night. Little by little my music attracted all the cats from our neighborhood. They came to listen me, and they were captivated by my music. My music affected not only the cats. Out of nowhere every time came the little boy and started to play his flute. And when he finished he went away without saying anything. I thank the Virgin of Zapopan for this big company I have now.

My daughter Maria helped me with the laundry on the riverbank. She slipped on a stone, fell down to the bottom of the water. But the Virgin of the Ball sent two brave dogs to save her before she drowned. I thank the Virgin for the miracle, and now these two dogs live in our house.

Macaria Soto thanks for saving her donkey from the bite of a viper because the donkey has a perfect vision and saw the snake and killed it with her hoof. She thanks for that with this picture.

Zimapan, Hidalgo, 1952

My dogs had five cute puppies. They were all so different so I decided to have all of them. I thank Saint Francis because my house is big enough and has a garden and I have enough money to keep all my dogs.

We thank the Virgin of Zapopan because, although the goat is very stubborn and the pig doesn’t like to walk and we had to carry it, we managed to bring them to the animal blessing.

Because of land disputes, the Gomez brothers set a trap for me. They waited in ambush to kill me. But I entrusted myself to the Virgin of Zapopan, and she made so I noticed them and could escape. The Virgin also gave my horse an extra-speed so the brothers Gomez couldn’t catch me.

The Carrion sisters were passing by the market when suddenly they saw an enormous bull which had escaped from the Las Golodrinas ranch. The animal was furious and began chasing the sisters. They didn’t want to die from the bull’s horns so they prayed to Saint Quiteria. That moment, some spinach fell of the basket of one sister, and the bull stopped to eat it. The sisters managed to escape and arrive to their house safe and sound. They offer this retablo for her protection in need.

I had to pass through the cats in order to get to my new apartment. I always had an irrational fear of the cats and felt very nervous around them. I tried to scare the cats off but they kept staying stayed there. I asked the Virgin for help, and she made so that my fear began to fade away. Now I like the cats. I even give them milk and sometimes stroke them.

Diana Molina was performing her act on trapeze and lost the rhythm during a throw in the air. She was about to fall on the lions who were down and were very grumpy. She prayed the Virgin of Guadalupe and, in a mysterious way, a trapeze came right to her hands, and she grabbed it.