story10826.xml
Title
story10826.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2004-09-10
911DA Story: Story
I had just finished the 8;30am mass in my parish of St. Henry Bayonne, when our maintenance man Sal came in to tell us that a plane crashed into the WTC. Thinking it might have been a small plane I remarked that it was a clear sunny day out and wondering how that could have happened.
Going over to the rectory, I turned on the TV and saw that it seemed to be much more than what I thought. The pastor then came in from outside and said he just heard an explosion. Turns out this was the second plane hitting the trade center, Bayonne is about a mile or so away. So we all watch the TV... stunned. I went over to church to pray ,and then came back to look at the tv again. . Around the time the south tower
collapsed, I remarked how amazed I was that the towers were still standing since they had been hit so severely and with that we watched the south tower collapse. Around 11am there was a call for all the priests in town to go to Bayonne
Hospital which was being set up as a triage, to recieve people from the trade center. So grabbing my holy oils myself and 3 other priests headed down to the hospital
where we ministered to several people who had been brought
in by ambulance. We were there the whole day until 5pm when
I and another priest went town to the Military Ocean Terminal where we ministered to about 200 people who were brought in from lower Manhattan by boat. I prayed with and consoled and listened to the stories of so many, until around 11pm, when they turned the lights out so people could sleep.
The next morning I woke up feeling like I had been drugged.
I noticed the smoke from the fire had drifted over the city.
For the next several weeks we could see the smoke from the site rising up into the sky. On Sept 16th my church hosted an interfaith service ,that was packed to the doors ,and even had people standing outside. I also noticed that the masses were very crowded that weekend after 9/11. In the weeks following we had several memorial masses and funeral masses, for those who had died.
Now three years later ,as I prepare to participate in a memorial service, Bayonne remembers....2004,
I realize the pain and sorrow of that day still remain
in my mind and heart. But as a believer I trust in GodS powerful presence whose love can heal, and I continue to pray for all who
experienced the events of 9-11.
Going over to the rectory, I turned on the TV and saw that it seemed to be much more than what I thought. The pastor then came in from outside and said he just heard an explosion. Turns out this was the second plane hitting the trade center, Bayonne is about a mile or so away. So we all watch the TV... stunned. I went over to church to pray ,and then came back to look at the tv again. . Around the time the south tower
collapsed, I remarked how amazed I was that the towers were still standing since they had been hit so severely and with that we watched the south tower collapse. Around 11am there was a call for all the priests in town to go to Bayonne
Hospital which was being set up as a triage, to recieve people from the trade center. So grabbing my holy oils myself and 3 other priests headed down to the hospital
where we ministered to several people who had been brought
in by ambulance. We were there the whole day until 5pm when
I and another priest went town to the Military Ocean Terminal where we ministered to about 200 people who were brought in from lower Manhattan by boat. I prayed with and consoled and listened to the stories of so many, until around 11pm, when they turned the lights out so people could sleep.
The next morning I woke up feeling like I had been drugged.
I noticed the smoke from the fire had drifted over the city.
For the next several weeks we could see the smoke from the site rising up into the sky. On Sept 16th my church hosted an interfaith service ,that was packed to the doors ,and even had people standing outside. I also noticed that the masses were very crowded that weekend after 9/11. In the weeks following we had several memorial masses and funeral masses, for those who had died.
Now three years later ,as I prepare to participate in a memorial service, Bayonne remembers....2004,
I realize the pain and sorrow of that day still remain
in my mind and heart. But as a believer I trust in GodS powerful presence whose love can heal, and I continue to pray for all who
experienced the events of 9-11.
Collection
Citation
“story10826.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 11, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5089.