Cathedral News

Rochester Cathedral Commemorates 9/11

Rochester Cathedral is commemorating the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington (known as 9/11) with a visual installation on the Pavement in front of the High Altar.

A moment of silence will be kept at 1.46 on Sunday the time of the first impact on the World Trade Centre and a prayer offered for world peace.

The installation will be in the cathedral from Friday afternoon to Monday morning.  Access will be limited on Saturday due to ordination service. 

A pile of dust and rubble built on the table top of the cathedral’s mensa altar and overshadowed by two requiem candles symbolising the twin towers of the New York World Trade Centre will be the focus for our remembrance.  Set in the very heart of the cathedral, the image will be transmitted to a TV screen by the Great West Doors and will call to mind all those who died that day and all whose lives have been taken or scarred by the violence of terrorism.

The ruinous heap reminds us of the dust and ashes from which we all have been formed and to which we will return – and our need for God to breathe forgiveness, hope and new life into all that we spoil and destroy.

People are invited to stand or kneel in the silence before the installation in remembrance and to light a candle in memory of a victim and as a commitment to reconciliation and peace within the human family.  For Christians, the death of Jesus Christ on the cross reaches out into the darkness and pain of every age to heal, comfort and redeem.  People of all faiths and none are invited to share in this moment of commemoration and our common commitment to peace.