Holy miracles Batman!

From an article by Queen Muse on NBC10.com that was forwarded to us today:

Parishioners Find Miracle in Fire at Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Painting, other old church artifacts made of wood survive 4-alarm blaze that gutted house of worship

By Queen Muse  Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013

Amid a pile of scorched rubble, many of the icons at Saint Mary the Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Church remained intact after a four alarm fire torched much of the historic building on Sunday.

Parishioners of a Philadelphia Ukrainian Orthodox church say the four-alarm fire that destroyed millions of dollars in furniture and artifacts and left a gaping hole in the center of the historic building also revealed a miracle.

"The fire was blazing, so when we saw the fire, we thought everything burned," Saint Mary the Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Church treasurer and parishioner Pasha Prasko said. "But now that we can see inside, we looked at it and said it’s amazing so many icons are still there."

Although a large portion of the church’s roof collapsed and more than 100 firefighters doused the building in water to tame the blaze, several icons remained untouched by the flames at the historic house of worship in the East Oak Lane section of the city on Sunday.

"It's a holy place, you know, and it's just not damaged the way we thought it would be," Prasko said. "We even talked about it yesterday and said it would be a miracle if her icon would be saved; and here it is, saved. I think it’s a miracle."

According to local historian Marita Krivda Poxon, in the Ukrainian Orthodox community, Saint Mary the Protectress is recognized as the protector of all Ukrainian people. A large painting of the Protectress and several other artifacts could be seen from the front door of the burned building in what appeared to be good condition.

"The church has a large icon, and in the center of it is the Saint Mary the Protectress herself. Apparently she was the saint in the Ukraine that protected the people of the country of the Ukraine," Poxon said.

"I think it’s a miracle that a few of the icons survived because they are mostly made of wood. I could only say that for believers they'll believe that it miraculously survived the fire; I mean the church burned, but her icon survived, and the congregation will survive. That's what it means to me."

Philadelphia Firefighter Arthur Davis said he's never seen anything like it before.

"Not one of those pictures caught on fire; not the ones on the wall, not the ones on the stage, not one of them was damaged," Davis said.

You can read the rest of the article here: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Parishioners-Find-a-Miracle-in-the-Fire-221226761.html