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Why would anyone do this--for money, or for something sinister?!?

Relic of True Cross Stolen from Monastery Outside Madrid
28-September-2009 -- Catholic News Agency

Madrid, Spain, Sep 28, 2009 (CNA).-

The Spanish daily La Razon reported this week that a relic of the Holy Cross was stolen from the Benedictine Monastery of the Valley of the Fallen, which had been in possession of the precious relic since 1960.

The paper reported the incident occurred on September 15.

The day before, which was the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Benedictine monks exposed the reliquary that contains the relic for veneration, as has been the custom for decades. The relic of the true Cross was given as a gift to the monks by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

As the monks were returning the liturgical vestments to the sacristy after Mass on September 15, they noticed that the reliquary had been opened and that the relic was no longer inside. The thief had apparently donned one of the monk’s habits in order to sneak the relic out of the monastery.

La Razon said the monks were upset at the discovery and are hoping the police will be able to recover the relic.

The Spanish daily recalled that “architect and archeologist Charles Rohault de Fleury wrote a book in 1870 in which he inventoried every known relic of the true Cross and that all together they would form less than one-third of the whole Cross.

“When she was almost 80 years old, in 326, St. Helena ordered an excavation on Calvary. She found three crosses in a quarry underneath a pagan temple. According to tradition, a woman who was ill was cured immediately when she touched one of the crosses, thus pointing out which one was the true Cross,” the newspaper recounted.

www.ewtn.com [ewtn.com]

Truly sad.

Fr David Straut

How very medieval it is! Back in those days, relics were all the rage, and people bought, swapped, invented and even stole them, both on an individual level, right up to internationally. Since relics were thought to have great power, they were considered legitimate booty of war. Look how many ended up in churches, monasteries or even private chapels after the sack of Constantinople (which was only the largest such incident).

The beautiful little Sainte Chapelle in Paris was bought to house the Crown of Thorns, the Image of Edessa, a piece of the True Cross and a bunch of other relics that Louis IX bought from the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, who, of course, stole them from various churches in that city. Louis, however, was considered particularly virtuous because he paid cash, and did not swipe or counterfeit the relics.

Other examples of stolen relics include the remains of St. Nicholas at Bari, stolen from Myra in 1087; the Shroud of Turin (taken, I believe, from the Church of the Theotokos at Blachernae in 1204; and various bits of the True Cross which found their way across Europe across Europe in the wake of various Crusades.

pray for their soul. Lord have mercy!

The relics of Saint Nicholas were not "stolen" from Myra; the local clergy begged the Italian sailors to carry the relics to safety from the approaching Turks.

Fr. Serge

Yes, Indeed as also with the relics of St Mark.\
They were taken to the safety of Venice.
Stephanos I

Fordham University has posted this anonymous account of The Translation of St. Nicholas to Bari [fordham.edu] . It doesn't seem as if the residents of Myra voluntarily surrendered the bones of their patron saint.

Yeah, Constantinople can be a rough neighborhood, what with all those Venetians loot. . . Oh. Never mind.

At least in the past, a 'looted' relic will still be venerated and kept in safety.
But for this recent one we don't know what will happen.
Even a consecrated host was laminated and sold at e-bay.

No telling... maybe someone will demand money for it's return, maybe Satanists stole it use in some weird ceremony, maybe a video will turn up on youtube of someone destroying it. Who knows.

Since the relic has intrinsic value, I expect it will be kept safe. It may even be in someone's private chapel right now.

True Cross or Holy Artifact. Look at pictures: http://www.scribd.com/people/documents/10919180-robert

Stuart's in a real tizzy about relics moving westward!

Alexis

There is a pious belief that relics and similar items of special holiness will, if misappropriated, eventually find their way back where they belong.

Fr. Serge