The reliquary containing two lead bulbs, themselves containing a few drops of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, were stolen from the Abbey Church of the Trinity in Fécamp, on the night of June 1 to 2, 2022, as well as other valuables.
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The theft occurred two weeks before the annual celebration Mass of the Precious Blood, the day the relic is presented to the faithful. The mass will be maintained on June 14, but it will be preceded by a “reparation”, in the liturgical sense of the term, because this theft is a desecration.
The relic has been venerated for 1000 years at the abbey church of Fécamp nicknamed “the door of heaven”. She is at the origin of the foundation of the Abbey of the Holy Trinity. The pilgrimage and the procession of the Precious Blood are part of the history of the town of Fécamp.
Bishop Jean-Luc Brunin, Bishop of Le Havre, diocese to which the city of Fécamp belongs, expressed his deep sorrow: “Beyond the market value of the reliquary, there is the attachment of an entire population and generations of believers who celebrated the Precious Blood. It is to undermine the faith of Christians and the community of inhabitants of Fécamp. »
The reliquary, a 19th century copper casket, housed the two lead bulbs containing the drops of the Precious Blood, collected at the cross. Traditionally kept in a marble tabernacle, sculpted in the 16th century, and placed in an apsidal chapel of the church, the casket was however kept in a locked glass cabinet in the sacristy at the time of the theft.
Trafficking in relics
The investigation was entrusted to the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Property. According to information from Paris Normandy, the burglar or burglars would have been locked up in the church on Wednesday evening, the door of the sacristy having been forced from the inside. The theft was discovered Thursday morning. No surveillance system was installed inside or around the abbey church.
The burglary of the abbey of Fécamp could go to feed a traffic of relics, estimates a faithful. The illicit trade in relics has reportedly increased in recent years, prompting a call to order from the Vatican in 2017.
According to the legend, the bulbs of the reliquary would have arrived in Normandy by the sea, in the trunk of a fig tree which would have floated towards Fécamp from Palestine. But some think it could be a memento from the First Crusade. Be that as it may, the Precious Blood has been the subject of a pilgrimage since the 12th century. Five miracles are attributed to him today.
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