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The churches main way of familiarising themselves with the saint is through the discovery of his icon in Rhodes (or Cyprus).
:They beheld a clearly outlined face of a saint with the name inscribed in what appeared to be fresh lettering that spelled out "Fanourios" and on closer examination fell on their knees at what they saw. Drawn about the saint were twelve distinct frames in each of which Fanourios was shown enduring a cruel form of torture in a realism that suggested the artist must have been witness to the atrocity. They rushed back to see if any of the other icons were in as perfect a state, but although they were all of the same basic design, size, and shape, all of them were quite ancient and quite indistinct. After careful scrutiny it was finally concluded that this icon of fanou4rios had, indeed , been one of a group that had been exhumed after untold centuries and that its freshness was a divine manifestation of the complete saintliness of this man about whom they were now determined to learn more.
:But years of research, scanning the archives of centuries and questioning the leading authorities of the day, yielded nothing, and no more was known about Fanourios than the day on which his icon was snatched from the ruins of that ancient Greek church. The torture scenes of the icon provided no clues, and examination of which showed Fanourios being stoned, on the rack, being slashed, behind bars, standing before a judge, tied to a frame, being =burned with candles, tied to a post, thrown to wild animals, crushed by a boulder, holding hot coals, and a demon hovering against a background of flames. All of these horrors conveyed that Fanourios was an apparently indestructible instrument of God and that in itself was sufficient evidenced of his sainthood.
:Archbishop Milos of Rhodes concluded that the unblemished icon itself was testimony enough to prove that Fanourios was a man of divine grace, and he petitioned the Patriarch to convene a synod which would officially proclaim Fanourios a saint, after which there was erected in the saint's memory a cathedral which enshrined the holy icon/ Fanourios, lost for centuries in the ruins of a church, became the patron saint of things lost. To this day his name is invoked when prayers are asked for the recovery of things lost items."''==Martyrdom of the Saint==The original icon is quite large.[[Image:Fanourios.jpeg]] In the centre is a portrait of the saint holding a candle in his right hand and around this are 12 smaller images showing the each stage of his martyrdom.
The portrayle of each illustration is as follows:
:1. The saint is standing in front of a Roman magistrate and defending his Christian faith;
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* Church dedicated to St Phanourios within the abandoned [http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3361238.jpg/ Monastery of Valsamonerou](or Valsamoneri), Vorizia (Heraklion, Greece).
:''''This abandoned 14th-15th century monastery stands in the village of Vorizia, 52 kilometres south-west of Heraklion and had a church dedicated to Agios Phanourios, housing some incredible [http://http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3535926.jpg/ 15th century frescoes] which are pure artistic masterpiece and unique examples of the Cretan School''''.:The two aisles of the church were constructed and painted at different times: the northern aisle is the oldest with dates inscribed in the wall of 1332 and 1404, the southern one is next with an inscription dated 1400-1428. :The church is a very rare example of a church with two narthex at the entrance of the church, both at right angles to the two aisles of the church. The church contains interesting exterior decorations of bricks. The doors and round windows are exceptionally well-carved. It is one of the best examples of Gothic influence in the exterior decoration of Byzantine churches in Crete; also the church contains some very well-preserved frescoes
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