The Virgin Mary at St. James could also be a strict and merciless guardian. The gold and precious stones from her altar naturally attracted various greedy thieves. One really brazen villain decided that he would steal the valuable jewelry from the statue. Before the church closed in the evening, he therefore secretly hid upstairs by the choir near the wooden organ. He waited for complete night darkness, when the entire church was quiet. Full of determination, he then went down to the altar full of rich gifts.

Quietly and very cautiously, he walked up the stairs of the marble altar. He quickly climbed all the way up right to the beautifully decorated statue with pearls. The thief did not hesitate for a moment. With his sweaty hand, without pity and embarrassment, he reached for the large necklace. He tried to tear an expensive gold chain from the sacred wooden statue. He was tempted by the vision of a great loot, thanks to which he could lead a carefree life outside.

However, as soon as his thin and dirty fingers squeezed the largest chain, something completely unexpected happened. In a single fraction of a second, an enormous and mysterious power awoke. The motionless wooden arm of the statue moved like lightning and grabbed the intruder. The wooden fingers of the Madonna gripped the thief’s wrist with huge force and refused to let him go. The sinner was caught firmly as if in a freezing vise. The thief thus remained completely trapped at the altar and lost any chance of a successful escape.

At that moment, the wretch naturally began shouting painfully and hysterically for help at the top of his lungs. His screams echoed throughout the temple and soon woke up all the monks. They immediately ran down with torches and found the crying, terrified robber at the altar. No one was able to get the thief out of that holy wooden grip the next morning. Therefore, the city executioner himself finally had to arrive and uncompromisingly chop off the thief’s hand with an axe. It is said that the statue graciously released only the dead arm. This severed and dark hand was then hung on a chain right at the entrance to the temple as a permanent punishment. It hangs there to this day as a terrible warning and warns all people against the sin of theft.