Italian Friars pray for diarrhea to afflict church’s bible thief

It’s often referred to as “Montezuma’s revenge,” but maybe now it will be known as “Tuscan friars’ revenge.”

An order of Italian friars, angered at a recent theft of bibles from their church in Tuscany, have prayed for the unknown bandit to be struck down with a most unusual ailment — a bout of diarrhea.

As The Guardian is reporting, friars from the 15th century church of San Salvatore al Monte — where Michelangelo once worshipped — were irritated when both a rare and expensive Bible was stolen, followed by the disappearance of a replacement book donated by a local within a few hours.

Fed up by the thefts, the group finally posted a bizarre warning, printed in both English and Italian, on the church’s front door, which reads: “We pray to the Lord that these thieves are struck down by a strong case of diarrhea and that this will be a stimulus for them not to steal,” according to the Daily Mail. Other sources, including NBC, have quoted the note somewhat less delicately as reading, “We pray to God that the thief is struck by a strong bout of the sh–s.”

Though the friars are arguably guilty of their own sins, such as praying for vengeance and using profane language, at least one of them believes all will be forgiven. “The language used by the brother who wrote the notice may not have been very clean,” an unnamed priest told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper, according to The Telegraph. “But the Lord, and the faithful, will understand.”