Peace From Praying the Rosary

On July 23^rd, 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