Hundreds of people packed Saint Mary's Church in Annapolis on Monday night to greet an old friend who shared a miracle of his own during what many consider to be the season of miracles.

Father John Murray, who was visiting from Brooklyn, N.Y., walked down the church's aisle Monday night, three decades after first serving as its pastor and two years after being told he would never walk again.

"I'm a man of faith, a man who believes miracles are possible," Murray told 11 News' Kate Amara. "I said, 'I'm going to pray for a miracle.'"

And he said that's what he got.

"Without a doubt," he said.

In the summer of 2010, Murray tripped on a boardwalk on the Jersey Shore and broke his neck. He woke up after a week in a coma and was paralyzed from the chest down.

"It was the most depressing day of my life," he said.

Murray said he started praying to the Rev. Francis Xavier Seelos, a beatified Catholic priest who, during the Civil War, was also a pastor at Saint Mary's. Six months later, Murray said he felt movement in his foot.

"I was filled with hope. That was a red letter day -- a star day for me," he said.

After that came a walker and crutches, then a cane.