The first important miracle associated to the image was around 1623 when a family of acrobats had a show which included “flying” over a field of spear points. The seven-year-old daughter fell onto the spears during the act and immediately died. Local women brought the image to the body and prayed over it until the child revived. This miracle made the image famous. Since then, many other miracles have been attributed to her intercession and they often relate to recuperation from dangerous illnesses and/or danger.
I remember one time, my mom's brother was gravely ill and my mom made a promise to Our Lady that if my uncle would get better, the next time we visited Mexico, she would go to the church where her statue stands and make a pilgrimage on her knees as a gesture of thanksgiving. The floors of the church at the time were old and wooden and I remember watching as my mother went from the back of the church to the statue in front on her knees and when she was done, her knees had splinters and were bloody. I didn't understand at the time the significance of this or the importance that Our Lady held for my mom.
When I was 14, my mom became very ill and was admitted into the hospital. My dad put her medalla away and a few months later, when my mom passed away, I asked him for it. I wanted to wear it so I could feel close to her. I don't think I had worn it a week when one day at school, I noticed it wasn't hanging from my neck. I panicked and checked all the classrooms I had been in, went to the office to see if it had been turned in and looked in the parking lot. No luck! When my dad picked me up that day, I tore the car apart looking for it, then went home and tore my room apart as well. I remembered that the day before, my best friend and I had walked to the shopping center in town. I called her and we retraced our steps, visiting every store we had been to the day before to see if someone had turned it in. Across the street from the shopping center there was a Montgomery Ward and you had to cross a busy street. We went there and asked if they had found it and they said no. Feeling really terrible about losing something that was so special to my mom, we started to make our way home. We had to cross two streets at the busy intersection but as usual, we never crossed at the crosswalk. When we got to the Blvd. we waited for a break in traffic and ran to the center island to wait for the traffic going in the opposite direction to ease. As we stood there waiting to cross, I saw a shiny object in the middle of the street. I tried to see what it was but the cars kept running over it. Finally I ran into the street, stopping traffic to pick up the object and there, in the middle of Harbor Blvd. was my mom's medalla. Somehow it has slipped off the chain and fallen in the street. Cars were honking at me and I must have looked a little nuts as I yelled and jumped around excited that I had found it. After I composed myself and got out of the middle of the street, I looked at the medalla and amazingly it was not broken. It sat in the street for 24 hours with cars driving over it and aside from the small stones around the front, it was in the same condition as before.
I took the medalla home and put it away, afraid to wear it again. This was 36 years ago. Then about a year ago, I started thinking about the medalla again. I wanted to wear it but was afraid of losing it. I thought about getting it fixed somehow so it wouldn't come off a chain but never got around to doing it. Then around November, for some reason, I really felt moved to wear it again. I told my husband and kids that I wanted to take it in to get it fixed but again, didn't really get to it because our finances were tight. I thought, maybe after Christmas. Then before the holidays, I had mentioned it to a friend and she said she wanted to see it. She said she knew someone who might be able to fix it so I gave it to her. A few weeks went by and I asked her about it and she said she would check with her friend. A couple more weeks went by and again I asked her and she said she had forgot but would ask her friend. Finally last week-end, she called and said that the jeweler wasn't going to be able to fix it the way I wanted (double lock on the chain and have the ring that hold the medalla soldered so it won't fall off) and she had seen my daughter earlier and gave it to her to give to me.
When my husband and daughter got home I immediatley asked her for the medalla and she handed it to me and said she had gotten it fixed for me. I laughed and started to put it away but she said she was serious. Apparently, she knew how much I wanted it fixed and asked my friend to somehow get the medalla from me so she could give it to my daughter. My husband took her to the jewelers and they had the ring soldered closed and bought a new chain for it. I am so happy that now, after all these years, I can finally wear something that was so special to my mom and is now just as special to me. I am also so touched and blessed to have a family that loves me so much that they would do this for me. Thank you Robert, Alyssa and Lou....I love you guys!
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