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Blessing ceremony marks rebirth of St. Nicholas National Shrine
By LINDA M. LINONIS
new york
Members of the Rev. Thomas Constantine’s family attended a ground-blessing ceremony Oct. 18 for St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in New York City. It was the only house of worship destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The ground-blessing ceremony marked the beginning of a two-year $38-million rebuilding project. The church also will be known as St. Nicholas National Shrine, according to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Attending the ceremony were Vasiliki Constantine, the priest’s wife, and three of their children, Theodora and Antonios, both 18, and seniors at Poland High School, and Gavrielia, 15, a sophomore at Poland. Also participating was another son, Deacon Eleftherios Constantine, who is second deacon to Archbishop Demetrios, archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He presided at the blessing.
Mrs. Constantine said she received an invitation to be among representatives of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh that includes Youngstown at the event. There are nine metrpolises in the United States. As the wife of a Greek Orthodox priest, she said she is called the presvytera. “It’s not an official title but one of endearment,” Mrs. Constantine said.
She said it was the first time she has visited the site of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, where the Twin Towers, destroyed in the terrorist attack, stood and where thousands died. “It brought me to tears,” she said. “The ceremony was quite moving.”
Mrs. Constantine added that looking at the water features was “very emotional.” There are two pools of water with the largest manmade waterfalls in the United States cascading down the sides and are located within the footprints of the Twin Towers.
She said the ceremony lasted about an hour and included a blessing with water from the two pools. Mrs. Constantine said guests were invited to write their names on a wall of the church that remained. It will be part of the new shrine. She received a pin as a memento of the event.
Afterward, invited guests attended a reception at the Freedom Tower.
Father Constantine, pastor of St. John the Forerunner Greek Orthodox Church in Boardman, said in its new designation as a national shrine, the site will be open all the time and offer a place for meditation and reflection. He said the church was a fixture in the community before the attacks and it will take on a “big role as a great witness as a Christian establishment.”
“I think it will provide comfort and stability,” the priest said of the shrine.
He added that in addition to people visiting the memorial, there now will be a place of worship for people to pray in or light a candle.
A virtual tour of the new shrine is featured on the website www.stnicholaswtc.org, which also provides details on the shrine. The shrine will be built a short distance from its original site, 130 Liberty St., and overlook the Sept. 11 memorial.
Archbishop Demetrios said of rebuilding project, “It will soon rise like a glorious phoenix as a National Shrine and a place of pilgrimage for our nation. It will be a place of faith, a place of peace and a place of solace and hope.”
The website notes that architect Santiago Calatrava’s design wa inspired by the architectural elements of the Cathedral Church of Hagia Sophia built by the Emperor Justinian and the Church of Our Savior in Chora, Turkey.
The original church, a neighborhood parish built in 1916, was completely buried by the collapse of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The new church in Byzantine style with a dome will be built on a platform 25 feet above street level and will include a nondenominational bereavement center for rest and meditation, community center, nave and narthex. The shrine will welcome pilgrims of all beliefs from all over America and the world. The shrine will be mindful of the promise of Jesus when he said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.”
The shrine will continue to function as a parish and will maintain the tradition of hospitality that the original church exemplified.
On the website, the church is described as a “spiritual jewel” that provides a place of reflection for generations of New Yorkers of all faiths. Comments attesting to this are posted on the website and social media.
The thyranoixia, or opening of the doors, when construction is completed will be in the summer of 2016. That also will mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of St. Nicholas.