Archimandrite Agathonikos bows before the silver-covered icon of the Virgin Mary to offer prayers for an end to the war between “peoples of the same religion” in Ukraine. Until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox faithful visiting Cyprus would come daily to venerate the relic. Tradition dictates it was fashioned by Luke the Evangelist from beeswax and mastic and blessed by the Virgin herself as a true representation of her image. Tourists visit the sea caves during sunset at in southern coastal resort of Ayia Napa in southeast Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Sunday, May 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) With the war and a European Union ban on Russian flights, the estimated 800,000 Russian and Ukrainian vacationers that head to Cy...
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