Someone stole his heart, literally (St. Lawrence O'Toole - Nov 14)

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tis_Bearself

Patron
Today is the feast of St. Lawrence O’Toole, who was an abbot and later Archbishop of Dublin in the 1100’s. He was known as a diplomat and an advocate for and helper of the poor of his diocese. One time he was physically attacked by some random violent person while saying Mass, but he just got back up, wiped the blood away and continued with the Mass. He is now the patron saint of Dublin.

https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/325

Most of his remains were interred in England and disappeared, probably destroyed, in the Reformation, but his heart was preserved in a heart-shaped box in Dublin in the cathedral he helped rebuild, Christ Church Cathedral. The Church of Ireland (Anglicans) took over the church, but kept his heart on display for centuries, until it was stolen in 2012 by thieves who hid in the church overnight just to steal the heart. They left behind all kinds of other valuable items and only took the heart, which they had to pry out of an iron cage.

It was gone for 6 years until 2018, when whoever had the heart decided it was bringing bad luck to their family. They left it in a public park in Dublin and called the police (gardai) to come pick it up. The Anglicans put the heart back on display in a more secure case that probably has all kinds of alarms. I was fortunate to get to visit it a while ago. Here it is:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

www.irishtimes.com

Heart of St Laurence O’Toole to be returned six years after it was stolen

Relic was recovered undamaged by gardaí following lengthy investigation
www.irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com

St. Lawrence O’Toole, pray for us.
 
Thanks for posting this and reminding us Bear! Recently I visited Christ Church, and I totally wondered about his heart. Bear and I had a conversation about it in another thread. What a wild story!
40.png
The curious case of the heart of St Laurence O’Toole....questions? Traditional Catholicism
Recently, I visited Christ Church Cathedral Dublin which is an Anglican Church (church of Ireland). They have relic there that I was very curious about. It is the heat of St Laurence O’Toole. He is a saint to both the Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland. He was born in 1128 to a noble Irish family. I was curious because it is a relic of an important Irish Catholic saint in an Anglican Church. Also recently the relic was stolen and returned after thief felt it was causing bad luck and heart…
Click to expand...
St. Lawrence O’Toole, pray for us!
 
I also got to see Glendalough where he was abbot before he was Archbishop of Dublin. Beautiful place. Made me want to stay there and live in a hermit cave myself.
 
This story is strikingly similar to that of St. André Bessette, whose heart is preserved in the St. Joseph Oratory in Montreal. It was also stolen a while ago, but was returned some time after.
 
I was unaware of that, although I have a devotion to St. Andre Bessette. I just looked it up and it says his heart was gone from 1973 to 1974.
 
Having seen St. John Vianney’s actual heart on tour, I am positive that the heart inside that box is a teeny dessicated thing rattling around inside the box, or perhaps there are three or four boxes nested in each other. The box is the size of a big man’s fist. Nobody’s heart is going to be that size after 1000 years.

St. John Vianney’s heart was indeed heart shaped, but quite small, I’m sure way smaller than it was when it was operating in him.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top