#REBUILDMYCHURCH

Heroes of Saint Nicholas

On the morning of September 11, 2001, heroes emerged at Ground Zero – many of whom gave their lives. Since that fateful day, there have been contributions of enormous significance to the rebuilding of the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine. These are the Heroes of Saint Nicholas.

Every month, we will highlight a person who played a special role in making the National Shrine a reality. The gratitude of the Greek Orthodox Church toward these people is truly incalculable. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for what they have done to bring about the miraculous reconstruction of Saint Nicholas.

This month's Hero of Saint Nicholas is The Reverend Father Alexander Karloutsos - Read full announcement

On September 11, 1970, a young man who had just been ordained a Deacon five days earlier, would kneel before the Holy Altar in the Holy Cross Seminary Chapel in Brookline, and receive the laying on of hands from the ever-memorable Archbishop Iakovos to become a priest. Newly married to his beloved Xanthi, and with the promise of a new and exciting ministry, how could he have ever known that – thirty-one years later to the day – the priesthood he received that September morning would be tested on the worst day in American History since Pearl Harbor.

Since the fateful day of 9/11, no clergyman – no Orthodox Christian of any ordained or non-ordained status – has been so deeply involved in the aftermath, reclamation, and rebuilding of the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, now a National Shrine, than Father Alex Karloutsos. He was the first Orthodox Priest on the site the Day of 9/11, because he was and still is a Port Authority Chaplain, and he was called to the site where so many perished, to comfort those who survived. Continue reading this announcement. 

Heroes of Saint Nicholas Recipients