When I came back from mass with my daughter, my husband, full of rage, began to beat me out of jealousy telling me “Whom you’re going to see dressed up so nicely with this shawl?” He kept on beating me without any reason. Suddenly he fell back when his leg got tangled in my shawl. He stood up asking forgiveness. He said someone had pulled him back. Here I testify the miracle made for me by the Virgin of the Shawl because now my husband loves me very much.

Señora Brijida M. G.
Zapopan, Jalisco, 2012

On our way to our grandmother Remigia, who lives above the hill, strong wind arose. And it was so strong and blew us off our feet that my sister Soledad lost her balance and fell off the cliff. But by a miracle of the Virgin of the Rosary her shawl got tangled on a jutting branch and stopped her from falling down. I managed to save her while I left my little brother and sister gripping a tree. After that the Virgin helped us to arrive to the grandmother’s house.

I dedicate this retablo to you, Virgin of Guadalupe, for the love of my mother, who used to lull me in her rebozo-shawl until I fell asleep. She sang me lullabies while working as a laundress, washing clothes. She loved this rebozo so much that she wore it till her death. When I see a rebozo, it calls up these sweet memories about my mother, doña Carmelita, whom I never forget.

Alfredo Vilchis Roque
April 10, 2013