If you want to spend a while with one of the ancient Franciscan missionaries of the 16th century who evangelized New Spain, be sure to visit the mission of Tilaco, in the Sierra Gorda.
If you are lucky, you will find in the old monastery the Capuchin friar Francisco Isidro Piñón Miracle, “Father Miracle”, as he is known in the region.
Born in Tarragona in 1929, he came to this Queretaro mission 37 years ago, looking for a place where he could help those most in need. He traveled on foot from the Sierra Gorda to Alta California, just as Fray Junípero Serra had done in the 18th century.
Father Miracle calls himself like this: “I am the voice of those who no one listens to”, and this has been true and has borne abundance of fruits. He rebuilt, with the help of the villagers, the mission that was in ruins (where he slept in the best part of it, which was a galley from where he could see the stars), as well as the Tilaco-Lagunillas highway. He has been a doctor of souls and bodies and to this day we see him, very clean, dressed in his patched tunic and huaraches, crossing canyons and valleys to go to the aid of his flock.
Source: Tips from Aeroméxico No. 18 Querétaro / winter 2000
