ADDRESS By His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America At the Ordination of Deacon John Capones to the Priesthood

My beloved Deacon John, Today as we observe, with all the magnificence the Church can muster, the Nativity according to the Flesh of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, we also celebrate your birth into the Holy Priesthood. Here at the reborn Saint Nicholas – restored now as a National Shrine – you receive the first ordination the Shrine has ever witnessed. This is a great blessing and significant privilege for you. Read More

The Christmas Gift of the St. Nicholas National Shrine

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, I can barely express my gratitude, enthusiasm, and unmitigated joy for the opening to regular worship and visitation of our precious Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, which occurred on the Feastday of the Wonderworker of Myra, December 5-6. Read More

The Saint Nicholas National Shrine Opening for Worship with Thanskgiving

With tremendous gratitude to The Friends of Saint Nicholas for their constancy and their faith, we enter into the Season of Thanksgiving preparing to commence the regular liturgical life of the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine on the Feastday of the Wonderworker of Myra. What a cause for thankfulness, that after twenty-two long years, we are now ready to open the doors to the Shrine for all the world to behold our faith, our traditions, and our beauty. Read More

St. Nicholas National Shrine - Monthly Newsletter - October 2022

From the first days after the horrific attacks on 9/11, there was mournful dread about the ashes that littered downtown New York, as if all joy in the world had been reduced to rubble with the destruction of the Twin Towers. The loss of life was so horrendous, as it says in the Book of Lamentations, that the entire Nation and the world sat in silence, dust and ashes covered our heads; we were girt with the sackcloth of grief, and our heads were bowed to the ground (Lamentations 2:10). Read More

St. Nicholas Shrine Newsletter - August 2022

Deat Sisters and Brothers in Christ, With the finishing touches being put on our Saint Nicholas National Shrine, and the installation of the full program of Iconography, I would like to offer this reflection and appreciation of the group of heroes who have made this monumental accomplishment possible: The Friends of St. Nicholas. Read More

Address by Michael Psaros at the Consecration of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine

We are the people of the Resurrection. The National Shrine is a symbol for all to behold of the victory of resurrection over death, of good over evil, of light over darkness, of peace and love over violence and hate. Read More

Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine March 2022 Newsletter

In this Newsletter, you will see for the first time a photograph of the completed icon (yet to be installed in the apse of the Church), known as the “Platytera Ton Ouranon” – “She Who is Wider than the Heavens.” The icon is thoroughly described in the article by Bishop Joachim of Amissos, but I want to share with you some thoughts about what this icon means for the Shrine and for New York City. Read More

Statement of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America on the Progress toward the Completion of the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine

After much thought and prayer, the Archdiocese, the Parish Council of Saint Nicholas, and The Friends of St. Nicholas, who have taken up the awesome responsibility for financing and overseeing the construction of the Shrine, have jointly decided that the Parish’s Holy Week will be celebrated this year as it has been in the past – in conjunction with a neighboring Parish. Read More

Friends of St. Nicholas February 2022 Newsletter

At the beginning of this month of February, we remembered in the Church the person and ministry of Saint Photios the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople (d. February 6, 891 AD). This brilliant Ecumenical Patriarch is famous for a multitude of reasons, but the one I want to highlight, vis-à-vis our National Shrine, is his commitment to spreading the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. His missionary zeal was truly apostolic, not a proselytizing chauvinism. And it is this spirit that our Saint Nicholas National Shrine will invoke for all who cross its holy threshold. Read More

Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine Among Most Anticipated Projects To Open in 2022

The Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center has been named one of "The 9 Most Anticipated Architecture Projects Opening in 2022" by Galerie Magazine. Read More

St. Nicholas Shrine January 2022 Monthly Update

My Beloved Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Here at the commencement of the New Year of 2022 – which is the Centennial of our Greek Orthodox Church of America, we have once again celebrated the Great Feast of the Epiphany. Read More

Monthly Update - December 2021 --St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine

We have just concluded the Feast of the Holy Wonderworker of Myra, Saint Nicholas, who is the Patron of our National Shrine. On that blessed day, I presided over the Divine Liturgy in the Chapel of Saint Paul at the Archdiocese Headquarters, with the new Proïstamenos of the Parish, Father Andreas Vithoulkas, celebrating at the Holy Altar. Read More

Homily at the Liturgy of the Feast of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker And Installation of the Saint Nicholas National Shrine Parish Council

While I had wanted to have this Divine Liturgy in the Shrine itself, so as to continue our journey to the full opening of the Church – inaugurated by the blessing of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew just last month – it was necessary for us to allow for construction to proceed apace. Read More

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine - November 2021 Monthly Update

Could there have been a more fitting climax to the Apostolic Visit of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the United States than the “Opening of the Doors” service at the Saint Nicholas National Shrine, and the crowning of the Church with the Holy Cross? Read More

Saint Nicholas National Shrine on the Way to Completion

Saint Nicholas National Shrine is on the way to its completion, following the 20th Anniversary commemorations of 9/11. The interior of the Church is being finished in the coming months, as well as the decoration. Read More

September 2021 Saint Nicholas National Shrine Newsletter

We have gathered tonight, on this eve of September Eleventh, to pay our deepest respects and condolences to the families and friends of those who perished on that fateful day, twenty years ago. Children have grown up without parents, siblings are yet bereaved, and parents have passed on to life eternal, still gripped by the loss of sons and daughters. Read More

Memorial Service on the 20th Anniversary of September Eleventh

We have gathered tonight, on this eve of September Eleventh, to pay our deepest respects and condolences to the families and friends of those who perished on that fateful day, twenty years ago. Children have grown up without parents, siblings are yet bereaved, and parents have passed on to life eternal, still gripped by the loss of sons and daughters. Read More

Saint Nicholas National Shrine Lights Up In Blue

On September 11, 2021, Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine participated in the commemorations of the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 with blue lights, joining all of the other buildings and memorials at the World Trade Center Site in New York. Read More

Saint Nicholas National Shrine Lighting

20th Anniversary Remembrance of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks Remembered with The Saint Nicholas National Shrine at The World Trade Center. Read More