Icon

He stood silently for a moment, leaning on his metal crutches before the icon of the Virgin Mary. Then, with reverence, he placed his crutches down, as a soldier would lay down his weapon, and lay face down to pray. He did not kneel, as is customary among the faithful, because he was missing one leg - he had been severely injured in a trench somewhere in eastern Ukraine.

Saint Demetrius, whom we celebrate every year on this day, October 26, the miraculous patron saint of Thessaloniki, is one of the most popular and honored saints of the Orthodox Church.

Hollywood stars Julia Roberts and Zendaya bookended inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 19, giving a little stardust to an eclectic lineup that included pop icon Cher, heavy metal's Ozzy Osbourne, hip-hop soul queen Mary J. Blige, soft rockers Foreigner and 83-year-old soul icon Dionne Warwick.

A rare fresco of the Virgin Mary recently discovered on the island of Naxos by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades is expected to shed light on the history of Byzantine painting in the Aegean before the era of the iconoclastic controversy which sought to the ban the veneration of religious images in 8th century.

A 70-year-old woman was arrested on Saturday by officers of the police's Department of Cultural Heritage and Antiquities in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, after ancient objects and religious icons were found at her workplace and home.

An 80-year-old man was arrested for art forgery and fraud, police said on Tuesday.

Authorities have confiscated four forged paintings, six ancient antiquities and 11 Byzantine icons, during the operation.

Experts have confirmed that at least 20 religious icons from a haul of more than 50 seized by the police in Athens on Wednesday are historically significant and protected by cultural heritage laws.

The icons were seized in the southern Athens suburb of Moschato from a 43-year-old man who claimed to have acquired them from a woman, aged 74, who has also been arrested. 

A 51-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman have been arrested near the town of Grevena in northern Greece for possessing two ancient religious icons, each listed for sale at 3,000 euros.

The arrests were made following an investigation conducted by the Edessa police department, resulting in their apprehension on Tuesday afternoon.

Thousands of faithful have been flocking to the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral in downtown Plaka to venerate a rare Greek icon named Axion Esti from Mount Athos, with state broadcaster ERT reporting a waiting time of more than an hour and a half over the weekend.

Groundbreaking rapper Missy Elliott, the late English chart-topper George Michael and rap-rock changemakers Rage Against the Machine are among this year's inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, organizers announced on May 3.