GoErie.com

Erie, PA -- The priests at St. Peter Cathedral are praying to St. Anthony.

"Something is lost and cannot be found," said the Rev. Marc Solomon, reciting the second line of the prayer to St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things.

But church officials also have turned to Erie police to help find a valuable chalice cover and a Book of the Gospels, which were stolen from under the church's crucifix sometime Monday.

Police have not recovered the items or made an arrest in the case, said Erie Police Lt. Kirk Werner, an Erie Bureau of Police spokesman. A detective has been assigned the case, he said.

The church, 230 W. 10th St., has been broken into several times recently, said Solomon, the church's parochial vicar. A few days before the book was stolen, someone came in and rifled through cabinets and pried a lock from an interior door before leaving without taking anything. The rectory also has been broken into, Solomon said. In that case, he said, money was stolen.


Solomon said church officials believe the Book of the Gospels and the chalice cover were taken sometime during the day, while the church was unlocked.

"We have no clue" as to why the items were stolen, Solomon said.

He said the 10-year-old book was worth about $100 but has value to the cathedral beyond money.

"It was obviously important to us," he said.

The old chalice cover, which has gold stitching, is irreplaceable, he said.

"We would really like it if we could get them back," Solomon said. "Come around, St. Anthony."

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