Sunday, July 11, 2010

Vandalism

The broken glass in the foyer made us scratch our heads and wonder at what kind of accident must have occurred. More broken glass behind a statue in the Church told us this was no accident. The lectern was cut in half, separated top from bottom. The three iconic images of the Holy Trinity were now only two. The statue of the Blessed Mother looked altered in her place. The giant stone candelabras on either side of the back altar were gone, smashed and retired to the patio until they could be repaired or replaced. You could see a blackened section of singed carpet where a fire was kindled but thankfully, quickly extinguished. Also thankfully, and most importantly, there was no desecration to the tabernacle or the Precious Body of Our Lord inside it.

At 2am a mad man who had escaped from a mental hospital decided to attack his God and vandalized the monastery chapel where we attend Mass. He broke the glass in the foyer, after first attempting to break into the back of the church and then gained entrance to the chapel. One elderly Cistercian sat alone in the darkened chapel praying through a battle with insomnia. He heard the intruder and rushed as fast as he could to the enclosure... the cloistered part of the monastery where only a special dispensation and a key card gains you access. There he alerted authorities. He was safe, thank you, Lord! The intruder was captured. The Cistercian monks ask for your prayers for this man that he might get the help he needs.  

St. Benedict, pray for them!

Here is a before picture of the back altar area. The statue of the Blessed Mother had been knocked down during the attack and then righted by the brothers in charge of cleaning up. We could tell she had shifted slightly from her usually spot. The two large stone candelabras were gone. The Crucifix hanging above the Blessed Mother was also gone.

You can see the lectern there with the microphone. The top of it was gone while the metal legs and one other board were all that remained. The Cistercians are preparing for an extraordinary 5 ordinations next month (2 priests and 3 deacons) and we hope they will have all the repairs accomplished by then although I am sure that a little vandalism will not sway them from their joyful celebrations!

14 comments:

  1. Oh, I am so sorry to hear this. I am not religious anymore, but I still get very upset when I hear of destruction, especially purposeful, to houses of worship. I hope all is fixed soon with a minimum of cost.

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  2. Oh, this is so terrible to hear. I'm praying for the poor man who did this, that he gets the help he so desperately needs. I'm also praying for the monks, that all will be in order next month!

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  3. This is always a very sad thing to hear about. Sad for many reasons. I was grateful to hear that the monk nor the intruder was injured. Most grateful to hear that the tabernacle wasn't desicrated!

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  4. Oh I am so sad to hear about this damage to our beloved Cistercian Abbey. That poor man! The poor monks! I am glad no one was hurt and the damage wasn't worse. Many prayers.

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  5. That's horrible!!!! I'm so glad no one was injured. Hopefully the repairs will be quick.

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  6. Church vandalism is so difficult to understand- in the last 4 years we have been vandalized by fire, graffiti, theft of copper wires from our cooling system and windows shot out with bb guns. We did have to raze and rebuild our sanctuary because of the fire, the other things we've just had repairs on- we too have been thankful that no one was injurred. In our case, only the arsonist was caught the others remain at large. We always pray the same pray, that our show of Christ's love touch the offenders.

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  7. So sorry to hear that - will certainly pray!

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  8. We, too, will pray for the man who did this, and are so grateful that no one was hurt!
    How disturbing it must have been for the kids to see this, Charlotte. A lot of lessons to impart and heartbreak to heal! (prayers for them as well...)
    :(

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  9. Oh no! This is awful! I'm so sorry and will definitely be praying for that man.

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  10. That is so sad. I am so sorry... I am glad they caught the man so they can help him.

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  11. Oh how sad. I can't even begin to imagine the anguish one must go through to even contemplate such actions, let alone actually carry them through. It's good to hear that no one was hurt.

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  12. We're so glad to hear that no one was hurt. The Cistercians are so close to our hearts - we were both UDers and Fr. James confirmed me, married us and baptized both of our girls. The Abbey seems so tucked away as to be almost impervious to such a thing, but it is really in closer proximity than you would think. We will pray for the monks for the man that did this.

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  13. Oh how heartbreaking. Praying for all involved

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  14. We will keep them in our prayers that all involved will get the peace, comfort, and help they need at this time. Thanks for the update.

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