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Mary Undoer of Knots Byzantine Catholic Shrine
St. Nicholas is in place on the Iconostasis!
A panoramic picture of the interior of the chapel showing the completed Iconostasis
A close up of the Icon
Notice there are six (6) smaller icons surrounding the large icon of St. Nicholas.
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In Fr. Peter Pearson's icon St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker is flanked on both sides by warrior saints. At the center top, Jesus looks down on Joseph, his foster-father at the center bottom.
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The top right icon is of St. Joan of Arc. Clockwise below her is Servant of God, Fr. Vincent Capadanno, a Navy (Marine) chaplain being considered for sainthood.
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St. Joseph is at the bottom, then Servant of God, Fr. Emil Kapuan, an Army chaplain being considered for sainthood.
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The final icon medallion is St. George the patron saint of soldiers.
The oldest surviving icon of St. Nicholas was written in Constantinople sometime during the 10th century. It is currently stored in the monastery of St Catherine in Sinai.
Notice the similarities between the ancient icon and our Icon! The Icon medallions on our icon are similar to the oldest surviving icon of St. Nicholas, shown below.
St Nicholas is dressed as a bishop, characterized by the white stole embroidered with crosses over his shoulders.
Called an omophorion in Greek, omophor in Slavic, and pallium in Latin, the bishop’s stole represents the lost sheep carried over the shoulders of the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21) and thus signifies the bishop’s pastoral role. In St Nicholas’ time, it would probably have been made from lamb’s wool.
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In the icon medallions around the border of the Icon are the busts of Christ and His Saints. Christ Himself is in the center at the top, flanked by the Apostles Peter (left) and Paul (right). On either side of St Nicholas are four Warrior-Saints, dressed in the Roman Imperial armour and cloaks of their time, holding spears and swords. On the left are the martyrs Demetrius and Theodore Stratelates, whilst on the right are the martyrs George and Procopius of Scythopolis. At the bottom are three Holy Unmercenaries (healers): Cosmas, Panteleimon, and Damian.
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None of these Saints particularly relate to the life of St Nicholas, but taken together they can be regarded as comprising the different ranks of the Sainthood: the Apostles, the Martyrs, the Holy-Warriors, and the Healers are all represented here, overlooked by Jesus Christ.
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At the center of all these famous Saints (and they were all incredibly well-revered in the 10th century) is St Nicholas. He is therefore shown not only as the archetypal Bishop, but the archetypal Saint. The icon represents what the faithful in the ancient Church thought of Nicholas of Myra, and such reverence is preserved in later icons too.