Protected in an accident because she was praying the rosary

I would like to share a story for which I am grateful to God.

I was crossing an empty street, with cars only in the far distance. I was praying my rosary. As I stepped onto the crosswalk, I was suddenly hit by something coming from the right…yet didn’t feel any pain... right after that I found myself laying on the ground, without understanding what had happened. Then I realized that I had been hit by a car!

It had come from a side street. The lady had stopped at the stop sign, watched for cars, but not for pedestrians as she made a left turn at full speed, she told me.

A small crowd formed around me. I was told I had an egg-size bump on my eyebrow and a bruised and bleeding nose. People looked at me in a funny way and I thought that I must be a scary sight. Despite all this, strangely, I wasn't scared. I felt confident and at peace inside...

A second grace was that God allowed a fireman to walk by around the same time... He said to me: "Don't worry ma'am, I'm an off-duty fireman." He was able to examine me right away while I was laying on the street. When he saw that I had no spinal damage, he asked someone to help him get me to the curb before help arrived.

Another grace was to see "the glass as half full", rather than "half empty". I could only see the positive: I was fully alert, and felt confident that I had nothing broken. I wasn’t worried at all, and I even tried to reassure the lady who had hit me. Not feeling angry at her was another God-given grace.

When I was taken to the hospital, I felt serene and at peace. Thanks be to God, I had nothing serious, only a sprain in my left knee and another one in my right ankle.

I thank God for all the graces he gave me on that day. I felt protected through this accident because of the rosary and I thank God for sending a fireman toward me at that exact moment.

God knows better than I do why He allowed this accident to happen. I know that He is only love and that everything that happens to me is for my good, in view of my eternity with Him, and I continue to have full trust in Him despite this accident.

Françoise, 63 (2021), a reader of A Moment with Mary