“This guy over here was screaming Hail Mary’s.” That would be a sentence spoken in reference to me: fairly young Boy Scout Nate. Why one of my Boy Scout leaders was telling others in the troop this sentence…well that’s the rest of this blog post.
As a fairly young Boy Scout I went on a trip with my troop to hike a small section of the Appalachian Trail. It was going to be a weekend camping trip on the trail and provide a chance for Scouts to be Scouts. As it was we were on day two, and a higher elevation part of the trail.

“Ugh…looks like a storm might be coming through, and next shelter is about 3 miles away.” Moaned one of our leaders. “Oh no!” I thought, “I REALLY don’t want to be trapped in the middle of a trail in a thunder storm…that sounds terrifying!”
We were coming around a corner to a straight away of the trail, and it provided a breath taking view of young trees, plants, and the sky. For a second it seemed like a perfect moment. But then suddenly all that changed.

Out of what seemed like no where the sky turned black, and a huge gust of wind so strong it almost bent those young trees straight to the ground pounded us in the chest, followed quickly by a torrential down pour of rain. Then finally, the crown jewel of the storm: Thunder and lighting. Our peaceful scene had turned all too quickly into a fierce, powerful storm, and I was terrified!
Thankfully in that moment, the thought of Jesus calming the storm popped into my mind. (Mk 4:35-41) Followed quickly by the thought that Christ said we would do the things he did and even greater things still. (Jn. 14:12) “Well then this is my only hope…” I thought to myself.

So quietly under my breath I started praying: Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with you… BOOM! The thunder roared and my fear rose! So I prayed a little louder, just enough that I could hear myself: Hail Mary full of grace… BOOM! The thunder seemed to get louder, feeding strength to my fear. Next I started walking just a little faster and praying loud enough that some of the others around me knew I was talking but didn’t know what I was saying: Hail Mary full of grace… BOOM! Was the Thunder getting louder each time I did?! I don’t know but now I was so terrified I started sprinting down the trail and screaming at the top of my lungs: HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE... BOOM… THE LORD IS WITH YOU… BOOM…BLESSED ARE THOU AMONG WOMEN AND BLEST IS THE….BOOM…FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB JESUS!

Three times I screamed a Hail Mary and ran for my life. Then as soon as I finished the third one…the storm stopped. The wind died down, the rain stopped, and the sun came back out acting as if nothing had ever happened. As I was processing the astonishing fact that my prayer had actually worked, the rest of my troop caught up to me and I heard one of my leader’s telling the others “This guy over here was screaming Hail Mary’s.”

Yep, that’s me, the Hail Mary screamer. But the nick name made it all worth it to think that my little tiny act of Faith that day was enough for God to rebuke a storm on my behalf. Makes me wonder what he is going to do tomorrow.