Print Issue: September 19, 2002

'We Will Remember' Prayers, Patriotic Spirit Mark 9-11 Anniversary

Cristina Marciales is held by her father, Carlos, during a candelight ceremony at St. Michael the Archangel Church, Woodstock, to bless a flag in memory of the victims of 9-11. Father Paul Flood blessed the flag, as it was raised, then lowered to half-staff after the congregation sang the National Anthem. The ceremony capped an evening Mass that drew upon the Scripture reading of the road to Emmaus and reflected on the lives lost during the terrorist attacks a year ago. (Photo by Stanley Leary/Archdiocese of Atlanta)

From St. Peter's in LaGrange to St. Michael's in Woodstock, people came to pray and remember Sept. 11 a year ago, a time when the nation reeled in disbelief at the carnage of the terrorist attacks, but also moved together in courage and solidarity. The prayer services throughout the Archdiocese of Atlanta reflected the deep sense of patriotism that has erupted throughout the nation since the attacks, but it also mirrored an introspective desire for healing and peace as everyone looked toward an uncertain future. "We remember the shock," said Father Kevin Hargaden during Mass held at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, on Sept. 11. "We remember the grief . . . the anger and the questions . . . and we remember that it was not only the tragedy of those days, but the signs of hope . . . we remember how we came to church, sometimes spontaneously, to pray . . . to help those whose lives had been torn apart." This issue of The Georgia Bulletin provides just a small snapshot in the larger picture of how we all remembered the day when our sense of security was forever altered. To quote Father Paul Burke, in his homily to the high school students at Our Lady of Mercy in Fairburn: "Sept. 11 was the day . . . when we felt smaller somehow, in this new vulnerability . . . the day when the United States of America was thrown on the cross of terrorism."