Grand Forks herald., 1917-03-05
NICHOLAS IS
one OF LEADERS
Prince Nicholas and Wife Are
Devout Members Of the
Greek Church.

Athens. Greece. Feb. Z. tcorrs-
spondenoe Of Tho Associated Press)-
Both Prince Nicholas and his wife the
Princess Helen, who Is = daughter Of
the late Grand Duke Vladimir Of Rus
sia. both devout members OF the
-servators in Greece Of tho fine old
Byzantine ikons still to be found In
many Greek churches It was Prince
Nicholas who intervened with the
french authorities to prevent tho
spoliation OF the Greek churches OF
Macedonia by General SarraN's om-
GERS and soldiers. Whom the Allied
GERS would 60 into small out OF the
way churches, see an attractive ikon
hanging behind burning lamp, take
IL down, leave . couple Of francs on
the altar to pay for 1t and really be-
lieve that they had done the local
priest service in the purchasing of
the sacred image.
Tho Greek priests, howsvsr. regard
Cd the transaction in quite . different
light They appealed to Prince
Nicholas to stop the business and
they and Prince Nicholas acted
promptly through the head Of tho
French School OF Archaeology In
Greece. Tho latter was requested per-
sonally to Investigate = number Of
cases Of which there had bsen COM
plaint He did 90 and esta bllshed the
facts on the basis Of which Prince
Nicholas pointed out to the French
government that, aside from tho re-
lGious feeling Of tho Greeks towards
their ikons, almost any Of those for
which General Sarrairs officers had.
IN perfectly good faith, left couple
Of francs on the altar, could be sold
in Paris for several Thousand francs.
General sarrail Immediately Issued =
drastic order forbidding any Of his Of
ncers or men to purchase articles
from the Greek ohurcheS under any
circumStanceA
Prince Nicholas now has . standing
offer to purchase at Z fair valuation
any tkonA candlesticks or other
church furniture Of real worth which
any Of the churches in Greece may be
forced to dispose Of He does not.
bought himself, but returns them to
the church from which he has pur-
chased them, where they remain his
property, to prevent their being sold
again.
The two Balkan wars have lnpover-
ished many Of tho Greek churches.
and especially the monasteries which
the monasteries are exceedingly an
cient-some were found over Z thou
sand years ago-and many were, at
one time at least exceeding wealthy,
as well The American and British
Schools Of Archaeology Of Athens are
built on ground once the property of
tho Asomaton monastery, once the
richest single religious community in
Greece. Today there are only about
thirty monks belonging to the order
who live in queer little lean-tos built
about the walls Of the central church.
little by little they have disposed Of
tho greater part Of their land. An
other parcel Is now in negotiation BE-
tween the American and British
schools and the monastery. When it
IS finally secured the two schools viii
build a combined school for women
students on 1t.
The monks Of the Asum1ton. WHOSE
asceticism like that Of al Greek mon
astaries, forbade the presence not on
~ OF women, but even Of all female
animals, will be able to Contemplate
from their narrowed retreat on tic
land that was once theirs, a buildtnr
devoted solely to the housing Of voin-
en-. 5s #t I