On July 23rd,
at the Vigil Mass at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Farley, Iowa; I
witnessed the peace that comes from praying the rosary. My boss and
I had driven through a storm on our way to a show in Bankston, Iowa.
The plan was to attend the vigil mass before the show. We actually
arrived in time for Confession, so I took the opportunity to
encounter this sacrament before I would receive the Blessed
Sacrament.
The Gospel was
about Jesus teaching the Our Father. The priest then began his
homily on prayer and how it is a way to strengthen your relationship
with God. Everyone's cell phone started going off with an alert. My
boss looked at his cell phone and it looked like there was a Tornado
warning issued for our area. The priest ended his homily and began
preparing the gifts. My boss checked the radar on his phone.
“Maria, go downstairs to the basement. I will let you know if you
can come up.” I went downstairs and knelt at the bottom step
listening as the priest continued to go through with consecrating the
host. My boss was at the entrance of the church with some of the
other men watching the storm roll in. My boss told me the sky was
filled with rolling thunder. The neighborhood sirens blared out
their warning blare. I was joined in the basement by my boss and the
retired priest, who had been walking outside. My boss told us “A
tornado warning had been issued and people were to seek shelter
immediately.” The retired priest went upstairs to tell people that
after they had received they should make their way to the basement
and not attempt to drive in the storm. People started drifting
downstairs to the basement and the retired priest stood next to a
crucifix and began to say the rosary. The prayer was only
interrupted once by a gentleman that said “No confirmation of this
report, but it is said that a tornado is near Dyersville and heading
this way. I will let you know more as I find out.” The rosary was
started again. I knew that we had a lot of elderly in our numbers
and a few women near me were working themselves into a panic. “Pray
the rosary with me.” “I can't hear it.” one woman muttered to
me. “Then we must be loud so that all can hear.” Outside the
window near where my boss had posted himself grew black as night. I
looked across the basement to the window opposite of him. The sky
was green gray. It was raining so hard that it looked like we were
in a car wash. Peace and resolve reigned as the rosary was recited.
I would glance around at the people near me from time to time just to
be aware of who was around me, but I kept my focus on the crucifix.
The rosary ended and people looked at their cell phones. “It
appears to have passed.” said the gentleman, who made the first
announcement. People started to exit. I went upstairs and knelt in
a pew to pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God. My boss checked in
with our client to let her know that we were okay and after the storm
had cleared our path to the show we hit the road. Tell tale signs of
debris made up mostly of tree branches were on the streets of the
town. No buildings had been hit that we could see as we made our way
onward to the show
