Upon entering St. Nicholas, one is immediately met with icons—sacred images that serve as “windows into heaven.” These are not mere decorations but liturgical tools that proclaim the Incarnation of God. Because God became a human being in Jesus Christ, the invisible God has become visible and can therefore be depicted.
Orthodox theology makes a strict distinction between veneration (proskynesis) and worship (latreia). Worship is reserved for God alone, while veneration is the honor given to the holy people and events depicted in icons. As the Church Fathers established, the honor paid to the icon “passes to the prototype.”
Icons at St. Nicholas follow a standardized theological program. The Pantokrator (Christ as Almighty) adorns the dome, while the Platytera (the Virgin Mary, “more spacious than the heavens”) appears in the apse above the altar. The iconostasis features Christ, the Mother of God, St. John the Baptist, and the patron St. Nicholas.