God wanted him to live.
A man shot himself in the chest next to the alter of Bronx church and miraculously survived, cops said.
The wounded man was slouched on a cushion to the right of the alter and behind an organ at Saint Brendan’s Church in Bedford Park when a parishioner found him at 7:30 a.m. Friday, police said.
Authorities believe the man, in his 40s, entered the Perry Avenue church on Friday and stayed behind while the doors were locked for the night.
Next to his body, investigators recovered a .45 caliber handgun, which they say the man used to fire a single bullet into his chest in an apparent suicide.
No criminality is suspected, cops said.
He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital in serious condition but was later stabilized, authorities said.
The Saturday morning mass was canceled while police investigated. The church held a later mass at noon.