Visit To St. Nicholas Shrine

EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis) We are reposting this interesting article from our friends at Monomakhos.com… We will always state our deeply felt belief that Saint Nicholas will not allow the desecration of His name by the many deviations from Orthodox faith in the “shrine” bearing his name…

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Last week, the St Nicholas Shrine finally opened.  One man who attended, sent us the following and asked us to publish it.  We do so without comment.

Visit To St. Nicholas Shrine

My family & I traveled to New York, St. Nicholas Day for opening of the long awaited ground zero shrine – the reincarnated & rebuilt St. Nicholas church that was destroyed on 9/11. We had already seen it months prior lit up against a starry night amid the tall New York skyscrapers; yes it’s quite singular, but what’s disturbing is the holy cross on top of the dome is too small to represent its Christian Orthodox identity.

Many people have complained it outwardly looks like a mausoleum and not a church.  Granted – the architecture clearly designed by a non-Christian Orthodox like Santiago Calatrava really strays from true Byzantine tradition.  The backdrop is Ground Zero’s modernist theme and of course, the World Trade Center.  One is still left with hoping for a more mystical sign – that it is indeed a church.

The nice touch as we entered the shrine, was the welcoming doorman at the door smiling (he was making sure enough space was available as the interior is not that big), thus lending itself to a more cozy, intimate atmosphere like the original little church.  Its seating is not pews, but white solid chairs and once settled in, we agreed the mostly pastel iconography of the visiting monk we met last July, Fr. Loukas of Mount Athos, Greece, has made the inside of shrine, especially near sacristy beautiful.

The icons are especially heartwarming, against the finely stenciled white walls.  Here in this small space it’s kind of  refreshingly different; it’s not a place to hear a choir singing, no Sunday school for kids, no talking too loud to anyone nearby, as the space rather demands you to be fully present in the liturgy.  Its virtue is its organic simple, atmosphere but, where to light a candle?  It’s by the long bare wall – no icons, nothing but sand and lots of gold beeswax candles to light in a kind of private spot.  Surprisingly, there is only one bathroom.

The visiting Bishop Apostolos gave an impassioned sermon on the 9/11 experience for us New Yorkers and about pride in being Greek Orthodox (Ok, fair enough, so long as we remember, it’s more important to be spiritually Orthodox First & then Greek, Russian, etc.)