The completion of the iconography of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center, as evidenced by the amazing, exclusive, photos we published/posted this week, is now progressing rapidly.

It is indeed miraculous to see Fr. Loukas, a monk of the Holy Xenophon Monastery, a leading Orthodox Christian iconographer, perched high up, turning the lifeless wall into an eternal holy pilgrimage with his brushstrokes.

But also important is the plaque dedicated to the thousands of our fellow citizens who met a bitter death in the destruction of the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001.

The plaque, as we see with great satisfaction, contrary to the fashion of the time, is bilingual, English and Greek, as befits a Greek Orthodox church.

The message begins: “To all those who gave their last full measure – Eternal memory,” and follows with the famous quote from the Evangelist John: “Greater love has no one than this, to sacrifice your life for your friends.” John 15:13.

And below that – how well thought out is this tribute, how harmonious are the texts, worthy of the sacrifices of the dead – is a passage from the great Funeral Oration of Pericles: “For they gave their lives for the common weal, and in so doing won for themselves the praise that grows not old and the most distinguished of all sepulchers – not that in which they lie buried, but that in which their glory survives in everlasting remembrance.”

The Holy Church of Agios Nikolaos – St. Nicholas at Ground Zero will probably be visited by millions of people who will have the opportunity to read these amazing texts, which honor to the dead.

At the same time, this is also an honor to the Community that founded the original Church of St. Nicholas that was destroyed, as well as to the group of Community leaders who made generous donations and worked very hard for the establishment of this historic project.

We do not overlook that many years have passed since the destruction of the Twin Towers and that St. Nicholas, like the rest of the projects in the area, should have been built earlier. We do not overlook that costs have reached very high levels reflecting the situation at our Archdioceses at the time.

However, after the creation of the committee ‘Friends of St. Nicholas’ under the leadership of leading Greek-Americans such as Michael Psaros, Dennis Mehiel, and others and thanks to the fundraising abilities of Fr. Alexander Karloutsos, the project was completed.

And what counts is that what remains, a building that is a monument, a continuation in a way of the masterpieces of ancient Greece and Byzantium and which will be a point of reference for the Community and a pilgrimage for the whole World, Agios Nikolaos, has been completed.