Even though she has just been physically attacked and robbed inside a church in Omaha, Nebraska, a 76-year-old woman from Iowa is responding not with anger and bitterness, but with love and forgiveness instead.

The woman, whose name was withheld, was reading a parish bulletin in the lobby of St. Cecilia's Cathedral on Sunday when she was suddenly approached by a man from behind, a scene captured by a CCTV camera inside the church. The intruder grabbed her purse then quickly ran out the door. Not content with robbing the poor woman inside the church, a companion of the robber approached and punched the elderly woman in the face, knocking her down, causing her head to hit the table as she fell. The scene was captured in a video footage posted by the church in its Facebook page.

She was taken to a local hospital's emergency room where she was treated and later released. She suffered a large bump and scrapes on her forehead, according to the Catholic News Agency.

With the aid of the cathedral's security cameras, which have been installed for over 10 years now, one of the old woman's attackers, identified as Wayman B. Clark, 22, was arrested on Wednesday.

Father James Netusil, an associate pastor of the cathedral, said he was preparing for Sunday Mass when he witnessed the "evil" acts inside the church. "After the first kid grabbed her purse, the second one hits her, and there's no point to it. It was just evil," said Netusil, adding that what they did to the defenceless old woman "just makes you cringe."

But even as she is recuperating from her ordeal, the woman is asking for prayers for her attackers, according to Netusil. "She is doing well and recovering at a friend's house," the priest said. "She is grateful for all of your prayers, and her hope is that you will pray for her attackers. What a witness to Christian forgiveness. God bless her!"

According to the Omaha World-Herald, Clark was sentenced previously in 2012 to one year in the state prison system for theft by receiving stolen property, which is a felony. He was also convicted for carrying a concealed weapon.