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Altar of the St. Cecilia Parish adoration chapel, where a Tabernacle was stolen.

(Jesse Marx)

People come and go at all hours of the night at

adoration chapel in Beaverton. For Thursday, however, between 1 and 4:55 a.m., the sign-in sheet is silent.

During this four-hour window, someone entered the private devotional building off

and, beneath a crucifix,

off the wooden altar it had been bolted to.

The Tabernacle, which symbolizes a tent sanctuary used by the Israelites during the Exodus, is approximately one foot tall and a foot wide and houses the consecrated elements of communion.

"Gold can be replaced," said the Rev. Pat McNamee, the parish pastor. "But our faith is really tested when someone enters this space and takes our Eucharist." He added, "That makes us anxious that we could be invaded."

A code, given to parishioners so that they can pray at any time of day, is required to get into the front door.

McNamee said the parish purchased the Tabernacle 10 years ago for about $3,500. A second one used for Mass remains safe within the church across the street.

Whoever did this had a "depth of disrespect," McNamee said, and "morally broke a commandment." He hopes that person has second thoughts and returns the holy item rather than sell it. He even vowed not to press charges.

"If the church wants to forgive somebody that’s fine," said Officer Mike Rowe,

spokesman. "But if we find somebody, we’re going to arrest them."

Whether or not that person is prosecuted, he noted, is entirely between the parish and the

.

The chapel is closed for at least a week, until the parish either gets the Tabernacle back or replaces it, McNamee said.

On Friday, a thin layer of black powder that police use to find fingerprints remained on the altar, covering the scratches likely imprinted by a crow bar. A security camera looms a few feet away but doesn’t work, according to McNamee.

He could recall only one other theft in the church’s history, when a Sunday collection plate went missing from a safe.

"It’s a shame we have to lock our church doors," he said.

Still, hardship creates the opportunity to renew one’s faith, he said, and that includes the person who stole it.

Citing an old Irish blessing, he said, "May those that love us, love us. And those that don't love us, may God turn their hearts. And if He doesn't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles so we will know them by their limping."

Their limping wouldn’t be physical, he said. It would be spiritual.

-- Jesse Marx