By Fr. Joe Freedy
A buddy of mine John Petrovich was running around his neighborhood, and he saw an ambulance in somebody’s driveway. John’s a really good guy so he wondered, “Should I stop…check if everything’s okay?” But he thought, “I don’t know the lady…I’m not a doctor.” So he just kept running. And he prayed one Hail Mary. One Hail Mary. He didn’t stop and fold his hands; he didn’t kneel. He just prayed one Hail Mary as he was jogging. He didn’t think anything of it.
A week later he was jogging around the same neighborhood, and he heard this woman call out from her front porch. He kept running. He didn’t know anyone from that neighborhood. She said, “No, you, the runner.” He stopped, turned around and said, “Me?” She said, “Yeah, you…You saved my life.” He said, “I’m sorry, ma’am, I don’t think we know each other.” She said, “No, I recognize your face. Last week, I was sick, and I was rushed to the hospital. And I was in the hospital dying. And I knew I was dying. Jesus appeared to me, and He held out His hand…and your face was on the palm of His hand. And He said to me, “You were going to die, but because of the prayer of this man you’re going to live.”
That’s the power of praying one Hail Mary.
I want to encourage you. If you have never prayed the rosary, get a rosary, pray the rosary. It’s such a powerful prayer that was given to us by God through the hands of Our Lady. St. Pius said, “If you want to save the world, say the rosary.”
Originally printed in IMPRINT Magazine Spring 2023.
