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September 12, 2018

Annual Sept. 11 memorial Mass held in Chicopee

REGIONAL
Story and photos by John Thornton

 

CHICOPEE – The 12th annual Sept. 11 Memorial Mass, sponsored by the Catholic Parishes of Chicopee and Ludlow 9/11 Memorial Mass Committee, was celebrated Tuesday at Holy Name of Jesus Parish at the Assumption Blessed Virgin Mary Church on Springfield Street, here.

The Mass marked the 17th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. On that tragic day, four hijacked planes claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people in New York City, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

The hall of the church was filled with parishioners as well as police officers and firefighters in full dress uniform. The Chicopee High School Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps members were also in attendance. The celebrant of the Mass was Father William A. Tourigny, pastor of St. Rose De Lima Parish in Chicopee.

The Mass began with the singing of “America the Beautiful” by soloist and cantor Robin Sheehan and was followed by a moment of silence for the lives lost on that fateful day.

The Mass featured a moving homily by Conventual Franciscan Father Joseph Bayne of St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyrs Basilica Parish in Chicopee. Father Bayne was recently assigned to St. Stanislaus Basilica after living and working for 28 years in Upstate New York. He was assigned to a church in Buffalo, New York on Sept. 11, 2001. He accompanied first responders who traveled from Buffalo to Ground Zero in Manhattan, where he served as a chaplain. 

Father Bayne said he holds a special place in his heart for first responders because his father was a Baltimore firefighter who tragically lost his life while on duty. His uncle and younger brother also are firefighters.

Father Bayne spoke to iobserve about the role of a chaplain when serving at the site of a tragedy.

“There are chaplains of all different faiths and backgrounds,” explained Father Bayne. “The chaplain’s role is never to push or force that faith on anyone else. When you’re comfortable in your faith and it’s your source of strength, you’re able to be there for other people and comfort them without having to present the docket of your faith to them.

“Something that I learned in chaplain training many years ago is the ministry of presence, or simply being with people,” said Father Bayne. “You can’t fix their pain, you can’t take it away, but you can stand with someone and be a source of strength for them.”

One of those present at the Mass was Chicopee Police Department Public Information Officer Michael Wilk. Officer Wilk has been an officer of the Chicopee Police Department for 27 years. Asked how faith plays a role in the life of police officers and other first responders, he said, “Faith absolutely plays a role with our department.

“For me personally, with some of the things I’ve seen and some the events that I’ve taken part in, I find peace in belief and I find peace in prayer. It helps to get by when we do see some of the things that we have to see,” he said.

The Mass ended with the playing of taps and a final blessing by Father Tourigny. Father Tourigny also gave a special blessing for those first responders at Ground Zero whose lives were claimed after the Sept. 11 terror attacks by cancer and other conditions as a result of inhaling toxic smoke. 

Following the service, parishioners and clergy gathered in the parish basement for refreshments.

A video version of this story will be featured this weekend on the weekly newsmagazine “Real to Reel.”

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