Thank you Jesus, Mary, Joseph, St. Helena and all the Saints who were petitioned in prayer (and the petitioners!) Many thanks to Kelly Thatcher who alerted Boston Catholics to the theft and got the story and embarrassed the Archdiocese into releasing a statement about It a couple of weeks after the theft.
In reading the police report, it should not go unnoticed that we also owe some prayers for a man named Richard Duncan. According to the police report, he was profoundly troubled that his partner was in possession of our Holy Relic and dialed 911 against his partner's wishes. Not an easy thing to do. His partner, Mr. Rust, sounded like he wanted to do the right thing and had been taking some steps in that direction when Mr. Duncan dialed the police.
Richard, if you come across this, thank you just doesn't say enough about how grateful we are to you for making that phone call and getting the Relic back to us. No words could express how much it means to Boston Catholics to have Our Piece of the Cross on which Our Savior was Crucified. Each time we see Our precious Cross, be assured of our prayers, especially on Good Fridays when we Venerate the Wood of the Cross (perhaps you can slip into the large crowd and be with us next Good Friday--we would love to see you there and I think you would understand much more about how much love and prayer and devotion you have allowed us to offer once again to God).
We were to gather on Wednesday, the Feast of St. Helena, to pray for the Relic's return and now we will be gathering to embrace Its return. Be assured of our prayers on Wednesday also.
Duncan advised Troopers he was having a verbal altercation with his partner Earl Frost. Duncan advised he had information that he felt the State Police should know about but the information should come from Frost. Frost was put on the telephone and advised Troopers that the altercation was over a religious artifact that was stolen from a church in Boston.
Boston Bloggers at BryanHehirExposed do a great job covering the (once again) less than enthusiastic involvement of the diocese in the theft and recovery here. A week later, they moseyed on into the car and took a two hour drive to sniff the situation out.
You don't want to know what I think about that.
