A crucifix that was stolen last year has made a remarkable journey.

In May of 2017 thieves took several metal items from Holy Trinity Church in Ocean View, Virginia. Among those items was a large copper cross that was used in the parish’s playground and a crucifix in a grotto. The cross was an original fixture of the convent but after the convent was demolished parishioners afixed it in the playground to a wooden arc for all to enjoy, especially the children. The metal corpus was pried off the wooden crucifix from the church grotto located in a small park dedicated to fallen military.  

Hoping to sell the large metal corpus for scrap metal cash, a local metal and iron works company found the corpus and alerted police. The corpus was recovered and later returned to the parish.  

NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- A church was able to recover a stolen bronze Jesus after a scrap metal dealer recognized the figure from media coverage of the theft.

Thieves took the metal Christ from a crucifix at Holy Trinity Church in Ocean View on Tuesday. The figure was in the Crucifixion Grotto in Saint Michael Park.[Source]

But the story didn’t end with the return of the stolen corpus. Apparently the thieves cut the corpus into several pieces while trying to sell it for scrap. Fr. Dan Beeman tweeted that the corpus had been welded back together by a Navy EOD sailor. For Lent the fully restored crucifix will be available for parishioners to venerate.