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June 23, 2023By Joseph P. Owens, OSV News
WILMINGTON, Del. (OSV News) -- It wasn't a planned beach vacation and parishioners could have done without the anxiety, but people at Holy Savior Church in Ocean City, Maryland, were relieved the morning of June 21 when police returned the statue of Mary that was stolen from the parish prayer garden the week before..
"Our Mary is back," said Donna Santoni, administrative assistant at the parish on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Mary was reported missing June 13 and was likely stolen sometime the previous evening from church property. The statue is described as 3 feet tall and heavy, usually requiring more than one person to lift it.
Santoni said Mary's concrete base was broken off and after the wear-and-tear of 10 years hosting the prayerful in the outdoor garden, she can use some tender loving care, but she is otherwise unharmed. Santoni said they have an artisan parishioner who has offered to take her and spruce her up before returning her to the garden.
"The wonderful Ocean City Police Department found her," Santoni said. "We kept hoping. We had people offering to buy one. I said Father would take care of that, but now he doesn't have to."
Mary's statue has been part of the Rosary Prayer Garden for more than 10 years, Santoni told The Dialog, newspaper of the Diocese of Wilmington, which covers the entire state of Delaware and includes Maryland's Eastern Shore. She said the garden has been part of the parish landscape for more than 20 years.
When Mary went missing, Ocean City police did not say the theft was part of a "Senior Week" prank. Mid-June is a popular time for graduating high school seniors to populate the bustling Maryland beach town.
Father John Solomon, parish pastor, was on vacation when the theft occurred but he learned of it from a friend who saw online news coverage.
"If it turns out she was taken by the 'June Bugs' -- that's what they call them around here -- things happen," Father Solomon said.
"If it's one thing about COVID, we didn't forget about religious freedom," he said. "There are plenty of places in the world where we can't worship in public, so this kind of thing shakes people. There's a difference between kids doing something they'll regret and someone chopping the head off of a statue, so hopefully it was the former."
He said news of the prayer garden vandalism may help bring people back to pray.
Father Solomon said the parish will have a reparation service after the Saturday 5:15 vigil Mass June 24 and will later have a rededication of the Mary statue "after we get her in tip-top shape." He said parishioners will pray for those who caused the disturbance.
Messages left for Ocean City police by The Dialog were not immediately returned.