Blood of Christ

Europe is littered with alleged relics from early Christianity. While it is hard to say how many of them are genuine, one that is considered among the most holy is an ornate box contgaining two vials that are supposed hold the blood of Christ from the crucifiction. Recently the Dutch church that housed the box was robbed, and the relic were stolen along with a collection of other atrifacts. But the box was soon returned with the vials intact.

On June 1, thieves stole ancient artifacts from the Fécamp Abbey, a historic church in France. The artifacts included dishes, a gilded copper box covered in religious art, and most notably, two vials supposedly holding the blood of Christ, collected during his cruxifiction, Artnet reported.

After the artifacts were stolen, detective Arthur Brand told Artnet that he began receiving anonymous emails from a person saying they were in possession of the valuable relics.

The thieves most likely hid the art at a friend's house after learning that it was bad luck to steal religious artifacts, Brand told ArtNet. The friend then emailed him asking to return the artifact, Brand deduced. "To have the ultimate relic, the blood of Jesus in your home, stolen, that's a curse," Brand told AFP.

Brand told the email sender to leave the art at his doorstep and waited in his home for a week until he heard the doorbell ring. He told Artnet News that he didn't see anybody outside, but saw the box on the ground and ran downstairs. He then notified Dutch authorities.

Whether stealing the vials actually cursed anyone is not known. I can see where the thieves might have taken the box because it looked valuable, and only later discovered that they had a priceless religious relic they could never sell. Curse or no curse, I can also see where a Christian would fear some sort of judgment for stealing the literal blood of Christ. Then again, maybe it did take something paranormal to get the thieves to return the relic, and finding out what that was mioght show whether the relic actually has some sort of cursing power.

At any rate, the relic is a piece of history and I'm glad to hear it was returned rather than disappearing or turning up destroyed. I'm sure the church is happy about it too. As for the other stolen artifacts, though, the thieves remain at large. When they're caught, I hope that Dutch police ask them about curses, since I would be very curious to hear why they decided that the box had to be returned and what led up to that decision.