ACCRA, Ghana — A Ghanaian Catholic priest has encouraged devotion to the rosary after recounting his escape from a burning car, which he attributed to the intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In a reflection shared Oct. 14 — during the month dedicated to the traditional Catholic prayer of the rosary — Father David Obeng Paintsil, founder of the Global Rosary Network, recalled becoming trapped in his car while returning from a pastoral assignment 10 years ago.
Paintsil said he had led a three-day retreat at the invitation of another priest in a different diocese in Ghana. Before setting out on the return journey to his parish, he prayed the rosary and invited the Blessed Virgin Mary to accompany him.
After traveling for more than four hours, he heard an unusual noise from the car. He was about 15 minutes from his destination and stopped to investigate.
“I needed to stop and check what was happening,” the priest recalled during his reflection. “As soon as I parked the car and put off the engine, all that I saw was a huge fire. Boom! My car had caught fire.”
Paintsil said he tried to get out but found that the doors would not open and his seat belt remained locked.
“It was so intense. The doors of the car, as I tried to open them, were locked. My seat belt was locked. And I knew that was the end of my life,” he said.
Turning toward the passenger seat, he appealed to Our Lady, whom he had invited to accompany him, asking her to protect him.
Paintsil said that before he finished the prayer, the car doors opened and his seat belt was released, allowing him to get out.
The fire subsequently engulfed the car, he recalled, preventing him from retrieving his bag.
“Here I am. I have my life. And I said, well, God still has a mission for me to accomplish,” he said.
Reflecting on his devotion to the rosary, Paintsil said he had acquired it through family prayers and that the Lord had transformed his life in many ways.
“The rosary is really a wonderful prayer, a powerful prayer through which we can encounter God,” he said.
He encouraged others to pray the rosary, identifying it as a means of bringing people together in worship of God.
This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.