As the vehicle of the Incarnation, in which Christ receives His Human Flesh from His Mother, it is most appropriate that her image is accorded a prominent place in the sanctuary. As early as the eighth century, the sainted patriarch Germanos I, when writing in his Commentary on the Divine Liturgy (Historia Ekklesiastika), understood the conch of the apse to symbolize the cave of Bethlehem where Christ was born and that below it is the altar table on which ChristвЂ™s Body, the Heavenly Bread, is present. This is also the case for that of the Shrine of Saint Nicholas at Ground Zero. In Byzantine/Orthodox churches of a centralized, domed plan, some type of image of the Mother of God is usually placed in the conch of the apse of the sanctuary wall. In the Apse of the Shrine of Saint Nicholas The Image of the Mother of God as Protectress of New York City Both meanings apply to the events depicted in the icon: Christ rises from the dead by His own agency Christ raises the dead to enter eternal life. The term is taken from the active and middle forms of the Greek verb: бјЂОЅОЇПѓП„О·ОјО№-anistemi (to rise up to raise up) and бјЂОЅОЇПѓП„О±ОјО±О№-anistamai (standing or rising up). It is simultaneously both a simple and richly complex image, revealing the dramatic miracle of ChristвЂ™s resurrection from the dead and profound theological doctrines. The image of the Anastasis (the Resurrection) is one of the essential images within the Byzantine/Orthodox Christological cycle found in all media.

The Image of the Anastasis inВ the Shrine of Saint Nicholas In these Scriptures, one reads how, after further instructing the Disciples and telling them that the Father will send them the Holy Spirit, the Lord led them out as far as Bethany, to the Mount of Olives, and while He was blessing them He ascended into Heaven. The biblical event is recorded in the Gospels of Mark (16:19) and Luke (24:50-53) and in the Book of Acts (1:9-12). Learn more about this icon.ДЄmong the images of the Christological cycle that will appear in the Shrine of Saint Nicholas is that of the Ascension (бјЎ бј€ОЅО¬О»О·П€О№П‚), depicting ChristвЂ™s ascent into Heaven on the 40th day after His Resurrection.

The Pentecost event had been prophesied already in the Old Testament Book of Joel 2:28-32, вЂњAnd it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all fleshвЂ¦.вЂќ This text from the Book of Joel is read at the Great Vespers for the Feast of Pentecost. The Biblical event is recorded in Acts 2 which relates how upon receiving the Holy Spirit, the Apostles began to speak in various languages, proclaiming the salvific message of ChristвЂ™s Resurrection to the world, drawing many into the Faith through Baptism and the life of the Church. Among the images of the Christological cycle that will appear in the Shrine of Saint Nicholas is that of the Pentecost (бјЎ О ОµОЅП„О·ОєОїПѓП„О® вЂ“ meaning вЂњfiftyвЂќ) depicting the event of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of Fiery Tongues upon the Apostles fifty days after ChristвЂ™s Resurrection.

The iconographer