Interesting Story Out of Houston

[OrthodoxTexan]

from KHOU, a Houston Television station.

Did divine intervention play role in dry cleaner fire?

Did divine intervention play a role in a fire that raced through a dry cleaning store? Maybe, but police and fire crews might be the ones who really got burned in the blaze at West Gray and Crocker.

You'd expect 5:00 to be busy at the corner dry cleaners. But customers of Up to Date Cleaners were in for a surprise Tuesday.

A closer look at the pile of debris left from the burned-out shop revealed something -- lots and lots of blue.
"I saw the boards on the windows and thought they had gone out of business," said Brian Wyka. "Look a little closer and they are definitely out of business, burned down."

It was 3:00 a.m. when the fire department got the call that Up to Date Cleaners was burning, fully involved.

But a closer look at the pile of debris left from the burned-out shop revealed something -- lots and lots of blue. On hand were lots of police officers, but they weren't there to investigate. They're customers.

"A lot of officers use this location because it is centrally located to the downtown area," explained Sgt. Larry Crowsen. "So there were a lot of police uniforms in there."

Thousands of them.

The blue was not just for police. Fire crews flocked there, too.

"It's going to be a disservice to everyone in the community," said Antwyne Johnson with the Houston Fire Department. "We are just here to support him and his family."

But they were there also to investigate. Arson is suspected in connection with the fire.

But the biggest surprise would come for Father Brendan Pelfrey from Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. He came to comfort the owners who are members of his congregation. "I said, trying to be a little humorous, if it was a bad time to pickup my cleaning."

There was a single survivor. Father Pelfrey's vestments, hanging alone on a rack. The plastic bag melted and was stuck to the hanger. But the cloth was pristine.

"In the church things are sanctified, made Holy," said Father Pelfrey. "This ought to be a sort of sign to us. It's all hand embroidered."

Protected, the father said, by another hand.

One of the reasons there were so many officers' uniforms inside the cleaners is the post Super Bowl rush to get back up to speed.

Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire. According to the storeowners there are questions whether the store may have been targets simply because of the police uniforms.

 

[Matrona]

Wow!

I wonder if vestments are made out of flame-resistant fabric since priests wearing them are around a lot of lit candles--but they still would have been singed, if not burned entirely, from a fire that intense.

Our God is holy!

 

[Epiphany]

Wow!

I wonder if vestments are made out of flame-resistant fabric since priests wearing them are around a lot of lit candles--but they still would have been singed, if not burned entirely, from a fire that intense.

Our God is holy!

 

[MariaRegina]

The Priests wear blessed vestments. This is truly a miracle.

BTW: I posted this story in the miracles section -- so it will be permanently on file.

P.S. Fire retardend fabrics usually just melt in a fire. This Holy Vestment was truly preserved by God.

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Very cool, it reminds me of this.

Daniel 3:26-27

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

 

[Reader Nilus]

When I was in high school a bookstore burned down in my hometown. The Bibles were not burned, but all of the other books were. It was also interesting to note that not only KJV bibles but all Bibles were not burnt.
Jeff the Finn

 

[MariaRegina]

When I was in high school a bookstore burned down in my hometown. The Bibles were not burned, but all of the other books were. It was also interesting to note that not only KJV bibles but all Bibles were not burnt.
Jeff the Finn

That was 35 years ago -- At that time, did they have all the mistranslations and politically correct edited versions that we do today? I wonder if they would stand the test of fire?

Incidentally, St. Dominic Guzman challenged heretics with a book burning ordeal. The heterodox scriptures were rapidly consumed, while the Gospel of St. Matthew bounced out of the flames unscathed.