By now you’ve probably heard about the mystery angel priest who came to the aid of a young Missouri woman hit by a drunk driver.
Nineteen-year-old Katie Lentz was injured and trapped inside her crushed convertible. Rescue workers were having trouble freeing her and the situation was precarious. She wanted to pray with someone. A priest walked up like an answer to Katie’s prayer. He anointed her with oil, prayed with her, encouraged the fire chief in the rescue effort. Fresh equipment arrived on the scene. Katie was saved. The mysterious priest disappeared.
Everybody was calling it the Missouri Miracle, and the story went viral. ABC News, CNN, Yahoo!, HuffPo—the media outlets couldn’t resist it. I lost count of the number of people who sent the story into us at Angels on Earth. Who wouldn’t be drawn to such a story?
Turns out that Rev. Patrick Dowling is an angel of the earthly variety rather than the heavenly. His name went public when he posted a comment on one of the many online reports, saying: “I absolved and anointed Katie and, at her request, prayed that her leg would not hurt. Then I stepped aside to where some rescue personnel were waiting, and prayed the rosary silently.”
Mystery solved. But no one is the least bit disappointed. Because Katie is alive and well, and the mystery was fun and exciting while it lasted. And best of all, it really goes to show that just about everyone believes in miracles.
