Sunday, September 11, 2011

Remembering 9/11: Official Victim #1 was Catholic Priest Fire Chaplain; Another Catholic Priest was on Airplane That Hit Twin Towers; 17 Other Priests Who Ministered That Day

For today's 10th Anniversary of 9/11, we remember and pray for victims and their loved ones.

The picture below is the "first official recorded victim" of 9/11, Fr. Mychal Judge, OFM, being carried by rescue workers.  He was the fire chaplain on duty that day.

At the time of his death on 9/11, Fr. Mychal was administering the Last Rites to a firefighter when a hail of falling debris from the Twin Towers hit and killed him.



He was known for his work with the poor and homeless, AIDS patients and FDNY.
 


There was another Catholic priest on board one of the planes that flew in to the Twin Towers.  His name is Fr. Francis Grogan, CSC.  You can click here to find out more details.



People who knew him know that he would have provided comforting words on the plane during its final moments.

There were many that day who saw to the spiritual needs of the dying and wounded.

Here's a book to consider to read the details of those acts through 17 Catholic priests at Ground Zero.  It's called We Were There: Catholic Priests and How They Responded in Their Own Words.

You can read some of those stories by clicking here.

It is comforting to know that many of these men of the cloth look over us, even in tragedy.

For those who died, and for those who took their lives, and for their families we pray for them.



+ Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.  May they rest in peace.  Amen.

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