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Author: Neil G. Olson (USA)
Introduction
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Legend has it that in Greece, there is a Madonna statue embedded with fragments of a robe stained with Christ's blood and the Virgin Mary's tears, which possesses the power to heal all diseases. As a result, it attracts countless people in pursuit and competition. In 1944, in Epirus, Greece, the guerrilla leader Elias and the commander Maler secretly negotiate to sell the Madonna statue to him in exchange for weapons. Everything proceeds according to Elias's plan. However, when his trusted associate Costa goes to burn the church and intends to take the statue, he is blocked by Father Michael, Elias's half-brother. Meanwhile, Fostis also wants to seize the statue for himself and secretly orders Costa to escape with it. After a fierce battle in the church, who ultimately ends up with the statue?
In 2000, New York, USA. The ruthless Kessler dies, and his granddaughter Anna takes over his collection, including the Madonna statue he had long ago acquired through cunning. The statue's reappearance once again stirs up a storm. Still determined, Fostis tries to obtain the statue. He sets a trap, arranging for Matthew, the grandson of Elias, to come in as a painting appraiser, and constantly misleads him. At the same time, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Metropolitan Museum, and a Russian theft group, all coveting the statue, join the battle for it. Meanwhile, the secrets of the statue are gradually uncovered.
In the summer of 1944, on the peak of the cedars in Adelphi, Epirus, Greece, the cedars sway east and west under the north wind, obscuring the cave. From above the cedars, he can see the Pindus Mountains in the east rising like gray clouds into the sky, and the northern brown ridges stretching into the border between Konitsa and Albania. In his imagination, he seems to see the Ionian Sea in the west shimmering under the sun. Below Adelphi lies a rugged green valley and a mountainous village divided by several tall church towers. As a child, Elias often came to play on this mountain, then imagined life beyond it: either heading south to Athens or following his uncle's footsteps across the ocean to the United States. He might become a soldier, a doctor, a wandering musician, or a spy—what mattered was not the profession, but that every dream was one of escape from this place. He never imagined returning to these mountains, being hunted throughout his homeland.
When Father Michael arrived at the Konstantin cave, it was already past midnight. Although he had rarely visited the guerrillas recently, he knew where to find them. Elias had always slept little, and he told the young priest to go to the spot lit by lanterns behind the cave. A few weeks earlier, Elias had warned Michael that the Germans would be watching him more closely, so the soldiers understood that his appearance now meant an emergency.
“Father, bless us!” As the black robe passed by, dirty hands gently grasped the sleeves, pleading for forgiveness for the crimes they had committed against the German soldiers and their own compatriots, crimes they would continue to commit in the future. Elias looked at his men and felt they were like children. Before the priest's arrival, they had been bold and fierce, but now they appeared gentle and repentant like lambs. In their eyes, they did not see the young priest himself but God. For some soldiers, the priest's blessing was the first touch from a divine power in months, and the dark cave only intensified the effect. The priest blessed them softly, but Elias neither heard nor cared. Only he remained completely unsurprised when he saw the priest.
“Welcome, Father,” Elias said as the handsome, slender face of Father Michael emerged from the shadows. “Are you here to preach, or to have a drink with me?”
“Don't joke around. I have news.” Elias once again noticed the wrinkles on the priest's face, carved by three years of hardship and suffering. In truth, Michael had always possessed something ancient, something beyond the mundane. His black eyes seemed to hold an ancient deity that occasionally flickered within. Elias had seen this expression in him even when they were children. But Michael still retained the passion and sense of mission of youth. He had witnessed countless brutal acts and forgiven the same brutality, yet he had never lost hope. The captain had to admit that this required a certain strength, a kind of strength he did not possess.
Yet the priest himself had never committed any cruelty, never taken the life of a compatriot with his own hands. This was undoubtedly significant. Priests should all be killers, otherwise, how could they truly understand the thoughts of those who kill?