9/11 remembered in poignant Pacelli ceremony
Published 7:11 pm Wednesday, September 11, 2024
2,977 flags stood at attention in the law of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, marking those lives lost in the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Pacelli Catholic Schools students dip their heads in prayer during a 9/11 ceremony Wednesday afternoon at the school. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Pacelli Catholic Schools students and members of the public took part in a 9/11 ceremony Wednesday afternoon outside of the school. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Father Andrew Beerman blesses the field of flags Wednesday during a 9/11 ceremony Wednesday at Pacelli Catholic Schools. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Pacelli Catholic Schools students take part in a moment of silence during a 9/11 ceremony Wednesday at the school. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Flags were at half mast Wednesday during a 9/11 ceremony at Pacelli Catholic Schools. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Pacelli students and staff take part in a song from the Pacelli choir during a 9/11 ceremony Wednesday afternoon at Pacelli Catholic Schools. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
People attending Wednesday’s 9/11 ceremony at Pacelli Catholic Schools stand for the 21 gun salute just outside of the school. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
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On Wednesday afternoon, Pacelli Catholic Schools students and staff along with members of the public, joined thousands across the country in remembering those terrible events of Sept. 11, 2001.
With a full program of remembrance and the backdrop of 2,977 flags marking those lives lost in the 9/11 attacks, people revisited the poignancy of the event itself and the memories it left behind.
“We turn to our lord in this time of remembrance,” prayed Father Andrew Beerman during the program.
Songs were sung, prayers were prayed and memories were remembered, but in a lot of ways the day and the ceremony that remembered those events was about connecting generations to ensure that even those who didn’t live through the day itself and its aftermath are linked to history.
“It’s the promise to never forget,” said Pacelli social studies teacher Nick McGrath. “9-11 for so many elicits this response. It’s still fresh. It’s still a wound that’s healing for people. For the students, it helps them connect. Their adults remember it, their grandparents remember it. They’re the ones that have to be queued into what this means and why it matters.”
During the ceremony, McGrath spoke at length about 9/11. The day itself and the way it changed the world in its aftermath.
He also talked about how at the same time, it united Americans like never before and reflected a country we should want to be.
As the program came to end, McGrath asked that people take time to walk through the field of flags, which are going to be up through Monday, and use the time to think. It’s something he has done and related as to how it acts as a bridge to 9/11.
“It’s that amazing realization of how small you are,” he said. “We’re a global community. We are thousands of miles from Manhattan. Thousands of miles from Shanksville. All of them have this connection to this event from here.”
Not only is it a bridge, but it’s also a unification of country.
“It brings the wider world back to Austin,” McGrath said. “I love the field of flags. I get lost in the field. For me, it’s the greatest connection that those 50 stars are for everybody.”
