Benedictine Abbey Attacked in Arkansas - Altar Smashed, Relics Stolen (Pictures Inside)
Please pray for the person who did this!
Subiaco Abbey in Subiaco, Ark. announced that an intruder desecrated their altar in the Abbey Church of St. Benedict.
The abbey said the incident occurred between 3:00-4:00 p.m on Thurs., Jan. 5. The suspect smashed the altar with sledgehammer and regular hammer. He stole two reliquaries, each containing three relics. (Six relics total.)
The reliquaries contained Sts. Boniface and Tiberius, St. Benedict, St. Justina, and St. Marcellus.
They added that the Eucharist and tabernacle remained unharmed.
“Through the use of a regular hammer and sledgehammer/axe, he destroyed the top of the altar and broke open the mensa stones containing the relics of our altar,” the press release stated.
“He stole our two reliquaries in the mensa stones, both of which contained three relics. He had apparently then moved to the tabernacle, removed the cross on top, removed the tabernacle veil, and then was interrupted.”
Police located and arrested the suspect after multiple witness testimonies. The abbey recovered all of the stolen relics as of Jan. 6.
“The Sheriff reported that the man had wanted to break into the tabernacle but had looked up at the statue of Mary and decided he couldn’t do that to her,” Subiaco Abbey posted on its Facebook page.
Here’s photos of the desecration:
Here’s a photo of one of the returned reliquaries:
Reparation for Desecrated Altar
The report states that Abbott Elijah Owens, O.S.B. and “the monastic community will undertake the penitential rite, reparation for the desecration, and offer a Mass of Reparation.”
“In accordance with the prescriptions, the altar of the church has been stripped bare and all customary signs of joy and gladness have been put away,” the report adds.
Fatima Angel’s Prayer of Reparation:
“O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity
of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world,
in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended.
By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
I beg the conversion of poor sinners.”
St. Benedict, please pray for us!
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[See also: The Final Hours of Benedict XVI: What He Said Just Before His Death]
[See also: French Monastery Survives War & Famine After 885 Years – What The Monks Do Now is Amazing]