On Friday morning, July 27th,
members of St. Mary Church were searching about for the statue
of St. Bernadette. The statue which was bolted down in the
church's Marian grotto was missing. It had been stolen sometime
between the late hours of Thursday and the early morning of that
Friday. Apparently, the culprits had unsuccessfully also
attempted to remove the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes as well.
It is unthinkable that someone would steal the statue from the
grotto. Besides members of the diocese, many from the
surrounding communities come regularly to that grotto to pray
for the intercession of Blessed Virgin Mary. The motives behind
the act are unknown -- it may have been an act of vandalism from
ill intent against Christ, or it may be a simple robbery -- but
the community has rallied in prayer and support. That same day,
a small group of Christians {some Catholic and some not} who
frequent the grotto came to the grotto and after a time for
prayer, they each left a Bible on the rock where the kneeling
St. Bernadette was. The Bibles were in turn taken by visitors in
want of them and other Bibles, flowers, rosaries, and candles
left at that spot. Even through an act like this, things work to
the good, for the greater glory of God.
Some expressed their prayers that God act in the heart of those
responsible to draw them closer to Him; even the unthinkable act
of stealing from the Church can be a catalyst to conversion to
God, for the culprits as well as for others. Parishioners have
expressed the hopes that the statue will be returned, but the
parish is moving forwards to see what can be done to replace the
one that had been with them for over 15 years.
