It was a divine \u201cdrug bust.\u201d <\/p>\n
A worker at an Orthodox seminary in Yonkers found a cache of \u201cdrugs\u201d \u2014 but soon discovered the priceless objects were of a \u201choly\u201d different nature.<\/p>\n
Drug-sniffing dogs swarmed St. Vladimir\u2019s Orthodox Theological Seminary last week when cops were called for possible illegal narcotics on the scenic, tree-covered campus, WABC reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n A worker at an Orthodox seminary in Yonkers found the priceless objects. Yonkers Police Department<\/p>\n Instead, what they found were first-degree relics \u2014 the body or body fragments, such as bone or flesh \u2014 of Saint Raphael of Brooklyn, a Syrian immigrant who founded St. Nicholas Cathedral in what is now downtown Brooklyn and was glorified in 2000, according to the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe people that found them didn\u2019t know what they were,\u201d said Father Michael Nasser of the seminary. \u201cThey weren\u2019t in a typical container.\u201d<\/p>\n The seminarian who found the suspected contraband quickly grabbed a nearby cop. <\/p>\n \u201cOne of our officers who was actually out here at one of these construction sites and doing some traffic, and he was approached by a member of the seminary who thought they recovered some kind of drugs or some type of illegal substances,\u201d Det. Lt. Frank Didomizio of the Yonkers Police Department told the station.<\/p>\n The objects had fallen out of a hole in a plastic bag while being transported to be photographed and catalogued \u2014 and miraculously had suffered no apparent damage.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a spiritual connection for us, maintaining our connection to that person. He lived in the 20th century,\u201d Nasser noted of the saint who died in the Borough of Churches in 1915.<\/p>\n The responding police officers realized the mysterious items were way more valuable than any street drug. Yonkers Police Department<\/p>\n The priceless relics \u201cweren\u2019t in a typical container.\u201d Yonkers Police Department<\/p>\n The discovery of the cherished relics wasn\u2019t the only bright spot from the mix-up. <\/p>\n \u201cWe got to meet the K-9 units who came out here for a special prayer and blessing and allowed us to thank them for all they do for us at the seminary and the whole community,\u201d Nasser told WABC.<\/p>\n