Have Faith in Saint Nicholas! – The National Herald

By Dennis Mehiel and Michael Psaros January 25, 2020

Michael Psaros. (Photo by TNH/Costas Bej)

We were shocked by the appearance of a paid advertisement in the National Herald a few days ago urging our Omogeneia to abandon the St. Nicholas National Shrine. The completion of the Saint Nicholas Church and National Shrine is a singular priority for our community as we approach the one hundredth anniversary of the Archdiocese of America. The National Shrine will be the only religious institution on Ground Zero, a symbol and beacon of global Orthodoxy, and the most visited Church in New York (up to ten million people per year visit the World Trade Center).

It will also stand as an immortal monument to the memory of the 3,000 people who were murdered and martyred on September 11, 2001. His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros has stated with conviction that completing the St. Nicholas Church and National Shrine is the single most important civil act of the Orthodox Church in America, since Archbishop Iakovos marched across the Bridge at Selma with Dr. King.

His Eminence also believes that the completion of the St. Nicholas Church and National Shrine will be a symbol of the resurgence of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, resulting in the re-engagement of our Faithful, the Nation, and the world with renewed vitality.

The National Shrine will also be a symbol to the world of New Yorks and Americas resilience, a living icon of American values and value system, and a declaration of Americas commitment to freedom. Governor Cuomo said that St. Nicholas is not just a national shrine, but a rather a global shrine. St. Nicholas is a symbol of peace and unity to a country that is desperately divided and to a world which is in chaos.

His personal conviction was not just clear, but moving, and he pledged the unconditional support of the State and the Port Authority to our effort. Friends, with the extraordinary support of our Omogeneia, together will pick up the Cross with faith, humility, and prayer to complete the construction of the St. Nicholas Church and National Shrine. We, are confident that we, the Church militant, will prove ourselves worthy of the Church triumphant.

*Dennis Mehiel and Michael Psaros are Chair and Co-Chair of The Friends of St. Nicholas

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Have Faith in Saint Nicholas! - The National Herald