Restoring Icons at the historic St Elian Orthodox Church in Homs

Prakash Varghese – OCP Delegate of UAE, Gulf and Levant Region
OCP Exclusive
21/5/14

Syria/Homs: A mass effort is underway to restore the damaged icons of the historic St Elian Orthodox Church in Homs, Syria as armed rebels in the region have been pulled out. During their occupation of the city of Homs, the armed rebels tried to burn the icons inside the Church. Some of the icons were completely damaged, some were partly destroyed, whereas some other icons are in good condition.

Archimandrite Maximus, Fr Athanasius and other church leaders along with the faithful have been working tirelessly to restore all icons inside the church. The entire process of restoring is being documented.

The Church belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All East and is located along Tarafa bin al-Abd Street near the Gate of Palmyra in Homs. It was founded in AD 432 on the spot where St Elian was martyred and holds his mortal remains. The Church attracts large number of pilgrims every year.

Source:
OCP News Service