Marian Valley Priest Prayed on His Knees as Bushfires Engulfed Surrounding Hills [Australia]

The Catholic Leader ^ | 9/11/19 | Mark Bowling

[marshmallow]

A CATHOLIC priest has told how he prayed in the middle of the night at a shrine on the Gold Coast hinterland surrounded by fire, and fearing for the safety of dozens of pilgrims staying in nearby cabins.

“I was on my knees with the rosary beads in the chapel and praying for protection from Heaven,” Pauline Father Albert Wasniowski said.

More than 25 visitors slept in cabins at the Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians, in the Marian Valley bushland, as firefighters arrived to warn Fr Wasniowski to prepare to evacuate.

It was 2am on September 7, and Fr Wasniowski said Marian Valley was lit up by flying embers, and he could see eerie, thick smoke.

“That was quite scary,” the 51-year-old Polish priest, who was encountering his first Australian bushfire, said. “It was close, it was very close.

“We were prepared for evacuation, staying on alert. It was so windy.

“The embers were flying and that meant fires could start at anytime, anywhere.”

As well as considering the safety of retreat guests, Fr Wasniowski said he was prioritising what he could take with him – the Blessed Sacrament, relics, documents, and data stored on computer.

“The main bushfires were in surrounding valleys of Canungra and Beechmont-Binna Burra,” he said.

While Marian Valley was engulfed in smoke, it was miraculously spared from flames on the ground.

As well as a main chapel, dedicated to the Black Madonna, Marian Valley’s Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians features many other smaller chapels built by pilgrims.