A California family's unwavering faith was unaffected by the unrelenting flames of the Southern California wildfires, and her resilience amidst smoldering ruins manifested itself in the form of a solitary statue of the Virgin Mary leading songs of praise. .
“It was amazing that everything was charred, but the statue of the Virgin Mary and the other statue of St. Joseph were in perfect condition,” family patriarch Peter Halpin said on Sunday's “Fox & Friends.” He said on “Weekend”.
“Obviously, they were a little burnt, but we just took the opportunity and prayed,” he continued. “Our house is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and has always been home to my whole family, all my relatives. There we prayed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and then our family We sang that special song that everyone knew,” dedicated to Our Lady for decades, and it was amazing. ”
Halpin said her family “broke the law” last week by visiting the remains of their home of 37 years. \
When they learned the deadly Eaton Fire had reduced the rest of their neighborhood to rubble, they clung to their faith and captured their six children and other loved ones in a video that has since gone viral posted on Instagram. We sang songs of praise together with the people.
“Our intention was never for this to go viral,” he continued. “Even though it was mostly a family affair, the response from the community was incredible and very heartfelt.”
Peter's wife, Jackie, said her son-in-law crept onto their property the day before and fell to his knees in emotion after taking photos showing the statue was still standing.
So she knew they had to make a pilgrimage to the place themselves to thank God for the years they had spent there.
“That was my intention,” she said. “We're going to pray. We're going to thank God that we're safe and that we've had so much fun over the years. We feel so strongly about the virtues of hospitality that we're like, 'We can do it again.' If that's the case, that's great.'' I wanted to pray.
“That song is [in the video] I just wanted to pray because it happened naturally. We want to be as grateful as possible for what we have. ”
Wildfires continue to ravage Southern California, with no end in sight, devastating communities and killing 16 people so far.
