Stolen Holy Gospel Book Returned

By Michelle Kearns
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
27/11/2011

The Rev. Volodymyr Zablotskyy had given up on getting back a stolen Holy Gospel book, with saint portraits embedded on its red velvet cover, treasured by the members of SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, but a stranger handed it to a stunned parishioner as he walked the Lovejoy neighborhood over the weekend.

“To me it was very emotional,” said Zablotskyy, the acting rector of the church who got the book back on Saturday and read from its pages during today’s service at the Ideal Street church. “I can’t express how happy I am to have it back. It was the best news I have received in the last few weeks.”

He noticed the ornate Holy Gospel book was missing about two weeks ago. He glanced over just before hearing confessions one Sunday and its stand by the altar was empty. Copper thieves have been suspected because two days before the book came up missing, about $5,000 to $6,000 worth of metal was stolen from the roof.

The congregation offered a $1,000 reward for the book’s return, but the man who gave it to church member Steven Camp is still a stranger. That stranger knew Camp was a parishioner, and told him, “I need to do the right thing,” handed over the book, and walked away.

It was about 8 p.m. Saturday when a stunned Camp went directly to the rectory next to the church where Zablotskyy lives.

“He said, ‘Father you couldn’t believe what happened’ and he handed me the Gospel and began to tell the story,” said Zablotskyy.

The priest isn’t focused on finding the thief. “We don’t even have a name to give it to the police.” Instead, he has been delighted that the holy book with its connection to past congregations is back where it belongs.

“The person who did turn the Gospel in, evidently had some change of heart,” said Zablotskyy, a native of Ukraine. “I asked my congregation today to pray for him because that might be the beginning of work that God needs to do in his heart.”

SS. Peter and Paul was founded by Russian and Austro-Hungarian immigrants in 1894. During the Great Depression, the congregation replaced its small wooden church with the current yellow brick church and domed roof in terra cotta and copper.

The book — Gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — dates at least to the church’s 1933 opening, said Zablotskyy, who moved here from New Jersey in August to take over as acting rector.

In the Orthodox church, it is traditional to read from the Gospels for occasions such as weddings, baptisms and confessions. The words in Old Church Slavonic — similar to Latin — are old-fashioned, yet speakers of Slavic languages, such as Russian and Ukranian, can understand it.

Zablotskyy read a passage this Sunday about the hand of Jesus healing a woman. He added how a hand seemed to have touched the man who returned the book.

The congregation that once numbered 700 has dwindled to about 30. They are a mix of new immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe and those who have lived longer in the Buffalo area. Some grew up in the Orthodox tradition. Some are new to it.

In a welcome turn, the public attention on the missing Gospels and copper seems to be a help to the small, low-key church that some in the neighborhood have told Zablotskyy they thought was closed.

After the return of the Gospels, he went to bed praying that the copper find its way home, too.

Instead, people have been turning up — about 10 he’s never seen before at services. Others have been calling to offer financial and moral support.

“I learned my lesson not to give up hope,” he said. “I’m very optimistic about the future. … Generally, when the tragedy like that strikes, people tend bind together.”

mkearns@buffnews.com

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