CLIFTON All around the Paterson Diocese, clergy, religious, and laity will join together in churches and at local shrines, and monuments on Saturday, Sept. 11 or Sunday, Sept. 12, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. They will pray for the victims of the attacks and their families, while also praying for the gift of God’s everlasting peace on earth.
The following is a partial list of events that will be taking place across the Diocese:
• The Shrine of St. Joseph in Stirling will hold an ecumenical candlelight vigil on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. at its Tower of Remembrance.
The vigil will begin with a bagpipe procession of first responders, community and religious leaders of Long Hill Township and the surrounding area. Trinitarian Father Dennis Berry, the shrine’s director, will offer words of welcome, including the recognition of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Peters, former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Stirling, for his service to the Long Hill Township community.
Rabbi Randi Musnitsky of Temple Har Shalom in Warren will provide the opening prayer for the deceased, followed by a reflection on peace by the Rev. Victoria McGrath of All Saint Episcopal Church in Millington. Mayor Guy Piserchia of Long Hill Township and Police Chief Ahmed Naga, also of Long Hill Township, will offer remarks.
Trinitarian Father Michael Barth, general custodian of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, will recognize, in memoriam, the late Raymond Donovan for his contribution to the shrine. Father Berry will honor the first responders. A prayer offered by Dr. Ali Chaudry of Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, will conclude the ceremony.
The 35-foot high Tower of Remembrance Memorial is dedicated to the memory of all those who lost their lives on 9/11. It combines steel from the North Tower of the World Trade Center and bells from the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity’s Seminary in Monroe, Virginia. The name of each victim who died at The World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in the Shanksville, Pa. countryside is inscribed on the memorial walls. Since its dedication in 2002, the Tower of Remembrance attracts thousands of people who come to remember the dead, to mourn for their families, and to pray for healing.
• Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney is scheduled to deliver the invocation at the memorial event of the Chatham 9/11 Memorial Foundation, to be held on Saturday, Sept. 11. The three-stop tribute will start at 6:55 p.m. at the tree near the tracks of the Chatham Train Station, where some of the local victims took the train into work in New York City. The Essex County Pipe and Drum Corp will lead a procession across Fairmount Avenue to the 9/11 memorial at Reasoner Park, where at 7:15 p.m. a westbound N.J. Transit train will sound its horn in tribute. Taps will then be played. The Reasoner Park memorial is dedicated to first responders who answered the call that day and never returned. From Reasoner Park, the ceremony will move to the 9/11 memorial behind the municipal library, where there will be speakers and the names of the 13 Chatham residents, who died that day, will be read aloud.
• St. Mary, Pompton Lakes, will hold a 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday, Sept. 11 to honor all of first responders and public servants and remember everyone who lost their lives, during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The parish encourages friends and family members of the faithful, who are in public service, to attend in uniform.
• Annunciation Parish in Wayne will hold a Memorial Mass on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 10:30 a.m. Auxiliary Bishop Gregory Studerus of the Newark Archdiocese will celebrate the liturgy.
• Franciscan Father Daniel Grigassy, pastor of St. Bonaventure Parish in Paterson, will hold a prayer service on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 12:30 p.m. at the grave of Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, a former New York City fire chaplain, who is listed at the first victim of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. Father Judge served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in West Milford from 1979 to 1985.
• Father Leonardo Jaramillo, pastor of St. Paul in Clifton, will hold a prayer service on Saturday, Sept. 11 at its 9/11 memorial outside the church after the 5 p.m. Mass.
• Notre Dame of Mount Carmel Parish in Cedar Knolls will hold memorial services on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 8:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 6 p.m.
• St. Thomas of Aquin Parish in Ogdensburg will hold a Mass of Remembrance on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 9 a.m.