A torrent of mud catches parishioners by surprise during Eucharistic Adoration in Spain | National Catholic Register

On the afternoon of 29 October, between 40 and 50 people prayed the rosary at 6:00 pm and the display of the Blessed Sacrament began half an hour later when they were warned that a flash flood was imminent.

“We didn’t die because a neighbor came looking for her mother (and warned us) while we were venerating the Blessed Sacrament,” Father Gustavo Riveira, pastor of St. George the Martyr parish in Paiport in Valencia province, Spain, said this week. ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. The city of Paiporta is considered the “epicenter” of the tragedy caused by recent floods in Spain.

On the afternoon of 29 October, between 40 and 50 people prayed the rosary at 6:00 pm and the display of the Holy Communion began half an hour later when they were warned of an imminent flash flood.

“We didn’t die because a neighbor came looking for her mother. If she had not done this, we would not have lived to tell this story,” stressed the Argentine priest, who criticized the fact that citizens were not informed in advance: “Nobody warned us about anything.”

The parish was flooded, but after the floods subsided, about 60 young people managed to remove the remaining water using buckets, according to the parish priest.

Father Riveira described a Dantes scene where the streets and houses were still full of dirt, wrecked cars piled up and things destroyed by the flowing water.

“We have mountains of mud and reeds. People took furniture outside to clean their homes. This is huge destruction that goes far beyond mud and quagmire,” he explained.

A few days after the flood, he said, they at least no longer lack food and water, but the Caritas parish has been unable to resume its normal activities. “We had to throw away everything we had because everything was covered in mud. We are out of stock”.

They were unable to properly preserve the aid they received thanks to the generosity of thousands of Spaniards because the Caritas premises had not yet been cleared.

In this way, there is what the priest calls “hand-to-hand solidarity,” which is not as structured, but reflects the extraordinary work repeatedly done by parishioners who also lost everything in the floods.

“They showed great solidarity, truly exemplary. People we’ve never seen before to such an extent came to the fore. It’s very beautiful and opens the heart,” commented Father Riveira.

Looking to the future, the priest expressed the need to restore calm: “We must remain calm so we can start again. The law of life is to always start over. Woe to us the day we stop starting over and looking to the future with the eyes of hope.”

This story was first published ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It was translated and adapted by CNA.