From Gazeta.ru:
Relics of St. Nicolas, Alexander Nevskiy and Peter and Fevroniya have been stolen from a church in St. Petersburg
The relics of St. Nicholas, Alexander Nevskiy and Peter and Fevroniya have been stolen from a church in St. Petersburg. The relics were stolen from the Church of St. Catherine on Vasilyevskiy island in St. Petersburg, a source in law enforcement told Interfax on Wednesday.
According to him, an unknown person broke into the office of the rector of the Church of St. Catherine and stole church equipment, valuables and relics of the saints, including Alexander Nevskiy, St Nicholas, Peter and Fevroniya. The communion chalice and five baptismal crosses were also stolen.
‘The relics were stolen from the icon ‘The Shrine with the Relics’, which was damaged by the criminals’, police added.
In the icon were also the relics of the holy martyr John of Riga, Saint Antony Dymskiy, Sergei Kasimovskiy the confessor, Saint Vladimir Chetverin, Saint Catherine and Saint Valentine, Saint Prince Vladimir the Believer of Novgorod, Nikolai the Believer of Pskov, the blessed Maria of Gatchina, Saint Vincent of Saragossa, and Saint Martiria Zelenetskiy.
The motives behind these crimes are as yet unknown.
In recent weeks, after the court sentenced members of Pussy Riot to two years in a penal colony for the ‘punk prayer’ in the church of Christ the Saviour, anti-church activities directed against the Russian Orthodox Church have increased in frequency in various cities in Russia.
Comments from Gazeta.ru:
eugenedoom:
Somebody’s going to sell them. How damaging to the Russian Orthodox Church
lisnick77:
I’m not religious, so I ask knowledgeable people to explain to me, not the clearest of thinkers, why you would keep the remains of dead people in the rector’s office?
Volglu: (responding to above)
There’s an illness that some people have (and probably rectors too) – it’s called necrophilia!
woramxana:
So what’s God doing? He can’t save icons, which are gradually disappearing, he can’t protect the Patriarch who a dozen armed riot police are keeping safe, and now he’s lost these relics… Is he actually resolving anything, or just watching from a distance, and he can’t do anything? And maybe then, he can’t punish anyone in the next life?
“Church is the name of the deception by which certain people want to exert power over others.” – Ludwig Feuerback
spartak87:
Religion is the opiate of the masses
Akzium:
These Orthodox activists, rather than picking on people wearing t-shirts would do better protecting their churches.
[Note: this is a reference to another story in which Orthodox activists challenged people wearing “Free Pussy Riot” t-shirts.]
misamoll: (responding to above)
So while they’re all hung up on t-shirts, these holy relics have been stolen from under their noses
aleks_melnikov:
… – Putin’s holy Russia!
Лана Иванова:
August 8, the prosecutor asked for 3 years on fire on Mount Athos for Pussy [Riot], now a thief steals one of the main, if not the most important relics of the Orthodox Church in Russia. Is it not a sign to Tovarishch Gundyaev [the Patriarch] that he is not leading a righteous life, and can not hold office? I suggest you all, the whole Orthodox Church, all priests, consider this: it’s evidently a sign to you from your teachers, saints, so to speak, that there is no need to leave the church, Orthodox Christians should lead a quiet life of prayer.
tamplier93.myopenid.com: (responding to above)
All true. Believers aren’t all idiots. People have to see the wickedness of those who make up the leadership of the Orthodox church.
wond_al:
… what have Pussy Riot done now?
Jan Ivan Bankovsky:
Hahaha, well that’s it then. Stability’s over, Russia’s falling back onto her knees. Run, Putin.
dwie_maski: (responding to above)
Yeah, stability’s over, and Bolshevism has begun. As if we didn’t all have to run.
antiguyshcool5:
Blin, I would say that they should have given 7 years to the “crazy vaginas” [Pussy Riot]. I think that the theft of these relics must show that those who publically defended the “crazy vaginas” are being insulting, and instigating religious hatred towards Orthodox Russians and Russians in general.
