Several years ago a Dr. ____, who was an amateur photographer, took two photographs of the statue (daytime & nightime), framed them and donated them to the shrine. They were taken in the Fall of the year as you can see by the vivid colors of the leaves in the picture. He told us that, if there was an interest, he would donate them and we could give them away at a suggested donation to keep up the maintenance of the grounds.  Donors grabbed up the photos almost as fast as he could print them.

The Doc and his wife had a great love and dedication to Our Lady of Guadalupe and they would come by the Shrine about every two weeks or so for a visit. The Doc would always ask me how things were going and when were we going to finish the mulch or the concrete path.  My reply was usually the same--as soon as we had the money. It never failed that three days later a big truckload of mulch or gravel or whatever we required would show up--paid for in advance.

But there is even more to know about these two who honor Our Blessed Mother with gifts to her shrine. The Doc was a physician and his wife was a dentist and their office was near the area of migrant field workers.  I learned that they opened their practice to those in the area who could not afford a doctor or a dentist and that they ministered to the workers' health needs as an act of charity.  So, the doctors lived their Catholic life by giving of their wealth and talent to those in need.

The photos were hung in the store which was in the rear of the chapel and everyone complimented their beauty. Now, this is how Our Blessed Mother works. One day there were about twenty people in the store and, as Our Holy Mother would have it, the two doctors were also there on one of their visits. All of a sudden a man yelled out, "Hey I see Jesus!"

I looked around and walked over to where he was standing beneath the daytime photo the doc had taken of Our Lady. Soon everybody was gathered around, including the doc.  But, as hard as I searched the photo and for as long as it had been in the store under my gaze I had never seen Jesus in this picture and even as I searched in earnest, I still could not see Jesus. I asked the man to show us where Jesus was since no one in the twenty or so viewers had seen Him. The framed photograph was high on the wall so I ran out and returned with a pointer. The man said as he pointed to the reflection of the Blessed Mother in the lake, "Look right here--it is Jesus reflected in the water," and he pointed to Jesus' feet, His knees, His head, and His hands as if on the cross.  At that moment there was a loud gasp of awe and people said they had goose bumps. The doc made his way to the front and stood beside me in silence. I turned to him and said, "This was a special gift to you and your wife from the Blessed Mother."

This is how Our Mother works for those who do great things for her but remain small as did Her smallest servant of all, Her little Juan Diego. Juan Diego would wear the greatest miracle photograph of Our Lady of Guadalupe still on display in the Basilica in Mexico City as Her servant. This day, She waited until Her two little Servants were both in the chapel to present Her gift to the Doctors.

When you see me in the chapel, you will probably hear me say three things: "Where are you from?" and "How did you hear about us?" and "Have you seen the miracle picture?"

God Bless you and many blessings to Her Beloved Doctors who protect life.  

Deacon Ed