Introduction
In the days of the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus (829-842), it was illegal to possess religious art depicting people. Houses were searched, and offenders saw their precious icons destroyed with dishonour.
A WEALTHY widow from Nicaea near Constantinople kept an icon of Mary, a criminal offence at the time. Rather than see it harmed again - a soldier’s sword had already left a scar on its cheek - she set it afloat on the Aegean Sea.*
That was the tale her son, a monk on Mount Athos across the sea in Greece, told his brethren. But it did not end there.
Two hundred years later, a curious shaft of light appeared out on the sea near the same Greek monastery.* At its foot was an icon of Mary, with a scar on her cheek. A monk named Gabriel brought the icon ashore and laid it reverently in the chapel, but as a sign of Mary’s protection it moved itself overnight to the wall over the monastery gate, where it remains to this day.
And every year, in the week after Easter, the monks hold a service on the shore, where Gabriel took the widow’s icon out of the sea.
To be more precise, the icon would have to start off on the Sea of Marmara, pass through the Hellespont (the Dardanelles), and then bob out into the Aegean. See a map of the Aegean Sea. The modern name for Constantinople is, of course, Istanbul. Mount Athos is the easternmost of the three peninsulas just south of Thessalonica.
It is known as the Monastery of the Ivíron.
Précis
In the 9th century, icons were made illegal in the Byzantine Empire. One widow entrusted her icon of Mary to the sea, and two hundred years later it reappeared near a monasry in grece. The monks took it in, and it miraculously positioned itself over the gate at the entrance to the monastery. (53 / 60 words)
In the 9th century, icons were made illegal in the Byzantine Empire. One widow entrusted her icon of Mary to the sea, and two hundred years later it reappeared near a monasry in grece. The monks took it in, and it miraculously positioned itself over the gate at the entrance to the monastery.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, despite, just, not, otherwise, ought, until, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Rather. Shaft. Shore.
2 His. Left. Mount.
3 Icon. See. Wall.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
clns (6+1)
clans. cleans. cleanse. clones. colonies. colons.
colonise.
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