Saint Nicholas National Shrine, Rebuilt After 9/11, Will Hold Memorial Service to Commemorate Attacks

This year, to mark the 23 years that have passed since the September 11, 2001 attacks, Saint Nicholas National Shrine (130 Liberty St.) will hold a special memorial service as part of the official 9/11 Commemoration shared with the victims’ families and honored guests.

This is the first September 11 memorial service since the new Saint Nicholas opened in 2023; the service is particularly meaningful in this space, which was erected to replace the Greek Orthodox church destroyed on 9/11. The current iteration is a house of worship, event space and national shrine for prayer, reflection and respite. In addition to its three Greek Orthodox services per week, the church hosts special holiday programming and private events. It also acts as a nondenominational space for prayer where visitors can light a candle, with additional community rooms for interfaith meetings. 

Inside the house of worship, traditional Greek Orthodox icons are depicted as well as three that are unique to Saint Nicholas and Lower Manhattan. In one, the traditional Platytera (a specific view of the Theotokos, or Virgin Mary, with the Christ child) watches over all of New York City. Other Lower Manhattan landmarks, including the Oculus, One World Trade Center, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Brooklyn Bridge, are all depicted as being protected by the Theotokos in this rendition of the icon. In another, Saint Nicholas is rescuing someone from the water as the Twin Towers billow with smoke below. The flotilla of boats that ferried people across the Hudson River to safety on 9/11 are also shown. The Anastasis scene depicts Jesus pulling Adam and Eve from the tomb, symbolically breaking the chains of death, while Saint John, King Solomon and King David look on with the addition of the first responders who perished on 9/11 in uniform.

The memorial event — presided by Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros with NYPD, FDNY and PAPD chaplains representing other faith traditions — will honor the memory of those who lost their lives that day and include an interfaith prayer for healing, both nationally and internationally. 

The memorial service will be at Saint Nicholas National Shrine at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11.

photo: courtesy Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church