Soon after a single-car crash occurred late on the night of Aug. 4 on the grounds of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Edgewater, it was clear to Father Zack Crowley and Eileen Thaden that the damage was extensive. And that the hand of the Lord might have been at work.
According to Anne Arundel County Police, Evan Kwisnek, 38, lost control of a 2014 Lexus moving south on Loch Haven Road, went off the road and onto church property, then demolished a church sign and damaged a garden and a landscaping wall, before the vehicle flipped over.
Police reported that Kwisnek operated the vehicle “in an inattentive, careless, negligent, reckless manner” and drove “too fast for conditions.” Kwisnek was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center and treated for suspected minor injuries. Police said the driver was believed to be intoxicated.
Thaden said the costs to replace the sign and repair the other property damage will exceed $50,000.
Father Crowley, parish administrator, and Thaden, director of operations, each were left with a sense of amazement as they surveyed the scene that night. Amidst the destruction, which included the ruined sign frame and hunks of concrete strewn across the path leading to the church parking lot, several strikingly symbolic signs stood out to them.
A plastic icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, featured on the church sign, was left with barely a scratch. In the flower garden, a Marian statue was spared, except for the loss of its right hand. And the driver, who crawled out of his vehicle before police arrived, avoided serious injuries.
“It was kind of awe-inspiring, to look at how much damage was done, and see that the driver wasn’t hurt more seriously and nothing else survived except the statue of Mary and that icon – which will be replaced when the new sign is installed,” Thaden said.
“When I told Father Crowley I could not understand how (Mary) was still standing, he said, ‘I can.’ He said that Jesus is taking care of his mother. That gave me goosebumps,” she added. “I do think Mary was watching out for us and the driver.”
Father Crowley, who joined the parish July 1, said, “I am not one to see the Lord’s fingerprints all over everything, but those two images of Our Lady were spared when nothing else was, while the rest of that sign was annihilated. That is a very powerful thing.
“At the end of the day, no one got seriously hurt. Thank God everyone was safe. It could have been horrific,” he added. “Our church is not defined by physical structure. We can overcome anything with the help of the Lord. Our Lady of Perpetual Help will continue to march forward spreading the Gospel as best that she can, just without a sign for a while.”
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