Edward Nason West (1909–1990) was an Episcopal priest and fixture at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City where he served for many years as canon sacrist and sub dean.
[1] He served as curate and then rector of Trinity Church in Ossining, New York, from 1934 to 1941 and was then named the Sacrist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
[2] He was also an authority on liturgical art and designed and painted the iconostasis, or altar screens, of the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava in Manhattan.
He also created the official emblem of the worldwide Anglican Communion, designed the coat of arms for the Diocese of Albany, as well as Episcopal rings, stained glass windows, altar frontals, processional crosses and religious vestments.
He was an admirer of writer Fyodor Dostoevsky and was especially fond of, and fashioned his mission akin to the character of, Father Zossima in the Brother's Karamazof (a starets, or Christian guru without high political ranking but the go-to person for advice among the people in his community.)