LONG BEACH, California, SESAWI.NET – PRAYERS have been answered for the recovery of a 780-year-old religious relic stolen from a church near Los Angeles.
Long Beach police announced Thursday that they have made an arrest and recovered the relic of St. Anthony of Padua stolen earlier this week from St. Anthony Catholic Church.
Details were to be released at a news conference later Thursday.
The artifact was stolen from inside a cabinet beside the altar on Monday – the feast day of the church’s namesake. St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost items and missing persons.
The Rev. Jose Magana said earlier that he decided to bring out the relic this year, on the 780th anniversary of the death of St. Anthony, because many of his parishioners have lost hope in the rough economy.
Magana said the relic is invaluable and deeply symbolic to his parish.
“It’s our history, so it’s irreplaceable,” Magana said. “It belongs to the church, not just the church here in Long Beach, but the entire Catholic church.”
The church opened at 6 a.m., and when Magana turned to the relic during the 9 a.m. Mass, it had disappeared. Magana could hear his parishioners gasp when they realized it was gone, but he continued with the service and called police immediately afterward.
Long Beach police Lt. Paul Arcala said the relic is housed in a 16-inch tall reliquary case with angel-shaped handles made of gold and silver on either side. He declined to describe it further because that might jeopardize the investigation.
The last time it was on view was eight years ago, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the parish. In Catholicism, relics are usually part of a saint’s body or clothes and revered as a physical connection to the saint.
While church members are upset that someone would steal a holy object, their faith is still strong.
“They said, `Father, he’s the patron saint of lost causes, so he’ll come home,”‘ Magana said.
Source: Associated Press
Photo credit: klewtv.com
