Photo Caption: Anthony Khoury (pictured) says he hopes his video, seen by millions, inspires “faith that God will keep us safe and give us the strength to endure all trials and threats and sufferings.”

By: By Tom Dermody

WASHINGTON — Viewers around the world have been captivated and inspired by both the sight and the sound of a 54-second video shot through a basement window by Anthony Khoury, 21, as a massive tornado devastated his Trail’s Edge neighborhood here on Nov. 17.

As the powerful EF-4 twister is clearly seen making its way near their home at 713 Patricia St., Khoury is heard praying the Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be. His parents, Sarkis and Antoinette, are also heard praying in the background.

The Khoury home was not damaged. After the tornado passed, Anthony and his father drove around the neighborhood and got their first glimpse of the devastation in their community, where hundreds of homes were destroyed.

Later in the day, Anthony’s mother asked her son to send his video to an aunt in Chicago who was concerned about their safety. Ten minutes later, the aunt called back to say she had forwarded it to CNN.

“Then everyone just started getting ahold of it,” said Anthony, who by the following day had been interviewed a dozen times by networks from the BBC to the Weather Channel. The video was shown Monday morning on The Today Show on NBC. In introducing it, Al Roker said he would be quiet so viewers could hear the prayers being recited.

One headline called it the “Lord’s Prayer” tornado video.

“WHY DID YOU PRAY?”
“People are asking me, ‘Why did you pray?'” said Anthony, who is a graduate of St. Patrick Grade School in Washington and Peoria Notre Dame High School. He attends both St. Sharbel Maronite Catholic Church in Peoria and St. Mark Parish, Peoria.

“I come from a super Catholic family,” he told The Catholic Post. “I’m used to being surrounded by faithful people. Most faithful people in that situation would pray. It gives us courage and strength that God will protect us.”

Not everyone facing a life-or-death moment would grab their phone to shoot video, but Anthony says he and his family were in the basement and he was at least 10 feet from the window, using his phone’s camera zoom.

“I had never seen anything like it close by,” he said of the EF-4 rated tornado that “came out of nowhere” at about 11 a.m. “I felt the need to record it.”

“I hope no one is hurt,” Anthony can be heard saying as the video begins. He then prays the Our Father as a neighbor’s trampoline is tossed across the screen. His voice calms as he continues with the other prayers, ending with “God, our Father in heaven, have mercy on us.”

Anthony, now a student at Illinois Central College studying health sciences, says he believes God is using the video and his witness “to show we must have faith that God will keep us safe and give us the strength to endure all trials and threats and sufferings.” He is freely granting permission to share the video because he believes it glorifies God.

Asked the day after the storm how many times his video has been viewed, Anthony replied “millions.”

“He’s very religious, always,” said Anthony’s father, who told his wife and son to head for the basement when sirens went off and he heard what sounded like a helicopter. “He’s a great kid, in church all the time.”