Saint’s statue swiped from St Malo chapel

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This article was published 12/07/2022 (1072 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Caretakers of Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in St Malo are holding out hope that a one-of-a-kind statue stolen from the chapel will be returned before next month’s annual pilgrimage.

For years, the life-size statue of St Bernadette has been displayed in a glass casket at the front of the small chapel, where visitors from around the world come to pray and reflect.

“There’s no monetary value to the statue. It’s totally worthless to anybody else,” said Leo Roch, one of four parishioners administering St Malo’s Blessed Margaret Parish until a new priest arrives next month.

“The link between the statue and the grotto is quite important. But if you’re up to mischief you don’t think about that.”

Roch said the theft occurred between the evening of May 30 and the morning June 1. A woman from St Pierre called him when she visited the chapel and found the casket empty.

The casket is protected by a Plexiglas barrier but Roch figures the thief got in through a small access door at knee height.

The parish reported the theft to St Pierre RCMP, but Roch said there are no leads.

“There’s not much they can do. There’s no serial number, there’s nothing like that.”

Roch said the chapel won’t press charges if the culprit comes forward.

“All we want is to have St Bernadette back, hopefully in good shape.”

Roch said the theft could have been a prank committed by someone who doesn’t realize the significance of the statue.

Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879) was born in Lourdes, France. She suffered from poor health but experienced several apparitions of the Virgin Mary, who asked for a chapel to be built at the nearby grotto. The site went on to become a major pilgrimage site for Roman Catholics the world over.

Soubirous was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1933. She is the patron saint of those experiencing bodily illness, poverty, or ridicule for their faith. In the early 20th century, her body was exhumed and preserved for public viewing.

When St Malo’s second parish priest, Father Abel Noret, established the grotto in 1896, he modelled it after the storied Lourdes Grotto in his native France. It was fitting, then, to also include a statue of St Bernadette when the chapel was constructed.

“It goes hand in hand with the grotto,” Roch said.

A visitor’s log shows people from all over the world visit the chapel on a regular basis.

“The traffic is increasing all the time,” Roch said.

Some aren’t Catholic or even religious, but Roch said all find the place peaceful and conducive to prayer or reflection.

The small chapel, which has just seven short pews, is left unlocked.

“We used to lock it at night, but we had people that would break down the door,” Roch explained.

The statue has gone missing before. Roch said it was once retrieved from the Red River. Another time, a group of young people returned the statue after placing it around a campfire.

“The previous time that it happened, it took a while before it came back,” Roch said.

The parish is now considering installing security cameras in the chapel to deter future thefts.

If the statue isn’t recovered, Roch said the parish may commission a replacement. But he hopes the original returns before Aug. 21, when the grotto will host its first pilgrimage since 2019. The parish is expecting the two special masses—one in each official language—to draw over 1,000 people.