Little Sister Teresa-Sylvi was having a retreat day with us and went to church to pray. She came back almost immediately to inform us that someone had stolen the statue of Our Lady. Mary’s place in the church was empty and a large rug from in front of the main door was also missing. Father Peter, our parish priest at that time, searched in local antique shops and flea markets in case someone had sold them. He then informed the police and gave them a picture of the statue explaining that it was neither old nor valuable, but was very dear to us in spite of that. The police sent the picture to the Aamulehti, and it was printed along with a short write-up the next day. The Bridgetine Sisters from Turku lent us a statue of Mary. It was a beautiful gesture, but the colourful Baroque-type statue looked somewhat foreign in our very modern church. About a week after the theft, Father Peter got a telephone call from the police. Our statue was found in good condition on the Orthodox Church steps along with the rug! |
An Orthodox woman wrote an article in the paper saying that Our Lady’s adventure might be a sign that our churches should become closer. That is, of course, true without the sign. Curiosity, however, prompts one to wonder what kind of adventures the statue of Our Lady had during this week. It may be that we will never know.