Miracle at the National Shrine

Basilica of the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception
(Washington, DC)

This past week, I was in Washington, DC for business (hint: Shakespeare). Since I have wanted for a long time to visit the National Shrine, I resolved to visit it before driving home on Friday.

I also have family in the area that I wanted to visit. My sister, Amy, lives in nearby Baltimore. My nephew, Phil, lives and works in the DC area. I made tentative plans to meet at Phil's house on Thursday for dinner with him (and his fiance, Regina) and Amy. However, it was not to be.

After I finished work on Monday, I decided to try to find the Shrine since I had never been there. My objective was to determine a decent route and scout the site for parking, hours, and nearby area. If I was lucky, I figured I might be able to get inside and spend a little time to start checking out the place.

When I arrived at the Shrine (it was kind of easy to find because it is at the top of a hill and dominates the skyline), all the visitor's parking spaces were blocked and only metered spaces were available. So I drove around the church looking for more spaces. I saw a sign for visitors parking across the street and went there. But as I pulled into the lot, I noticed that it closed at 6:30 p.m. Since it was already 6:10 p.m., there would barely be enough time to park and walk across the street before they locked the gates. So I decided to accept my fate and feed the meter.

As I pulled into a parking spot near the front of the church, I noticed a young couple walking towards me. Obviously, the young man was being a gentleman and escorting the young lady to her car. But something looked familiar about this young man. Could this be my nephew, Phil? It seemed far fetched since he doesn't work in this area and he lives several miles away. Why would he be here at this time of day/evening? What are the chances?  What a miracle!

He and Gina attended the evening mass because she had just returned from a trip. I just happened to stop at the exact moment Phil was walking her to her car. If he had just waved goodbye and got into his car, I would've missed them by moments. If I had parked when I first pulled in, I probably would have gone in one door while they came out another.

Phil accompanied me back into the church to take a quick peek while Gina went home to freshen up. While we strolled through the church, Phil reminded me that today (Monday May 13th) is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. Although that had crossed my mind a few days before, I had completely forgotten it until Phil mentioned it. Coincidence?  I don't think so.

Then we went to a nearby restaurant, Franklin's Restaurant, for a delightful supper. Although we have talked on the phone, it had been years since we had seen each other. This was a meeting I believe I will remember for a long time.