Blessed Bytes.

THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE IS JOINING THE 21ST CENTURY.

Digital reproductions of Mexico's patron saint on sale in her home country, will soon be available elsewhere.

"All the other reproductions are copies. Ours is the real one," says Guillermo Hernandez, president of Latin American Access Corp., the California company hawking the copies. Pope John Paul II blessed the scanned image during a 1999 visit to Mexico.

The 1-gigabyte file was created for scholars studying the famous image in Mexico City's Basilica de Guadalupe, but prints were created so a virtual virgin could "make pilgrimages" through Mexico and the United States. The 81-city tour was such a hit that Hernandez and other investors saw potential for a bigger enterprise. They sought reproduction rights. The Catholic Church had been futilely encouraging support from large Mexican companies, including Telefonos de Mexico and Grupo Industrial Bimbo, but opted for Latin American Access.

In what Hernandez labels the Catholic Church's "most important evangelical project in the world," the virgin's image has been reproduced 100,000 times in two sizes. A small print sells for about US$50; a larger version costs abour $1,040. Latin American Access splits the proceeds with the Catholic Church; it also donates to other causes, including the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E.

"The miracle was made and it's forever," reads the sales pitch. But Hernandez and his partners might find their part of the deal more short-lived: they only hold e-rights for 10 years.