St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Weirton observes 9/11 with Blue Mass
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WEIRTON -- Members of St. Joseph the Worker Parish, students of St. Joseph and St. Paul grade schools and Madonna High School, along with honored guests gathered Friday afternoon to honor and celebrate area first responders with a Blue Mass.
St. Joseph the Worker Parish has hosted the Blue Mass for three years, celebrating the service also as a way to observe the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.
As part of his homily, the Rev. Dennis Schuelkens Jr., urged those gathered to remember the almost 3,000 individuals who died during the Sept. 11 attacks, when a series of airliners were hijacked and flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Another plane was crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa., when a group of passengers attempted to take the flight back from the terrorists.
"We pray for them. We pray for their families," Schuelkens said.
Schuelkens also offered thanks to local emergency responders for their continuing services, placing themselves into potential danger each day in order to protect others.
"When danger comes, we move away," he said. "These people, they run into danger. They run to it."
Some of those seated in the parish sanctuary included members of the Weirton Police Department, Weirton Fire Department and Hancock County Sheriff's Department.
The celebration of a Blue Mass in the United States can be traced to 1934, with a service at St. Patrick Church in Washington, D.C., with 1,100 police officers and firefighters attending to honor their fallen colleagues.
Friday's service in Weirton including a salute to the dead and the playing of taps by members of the American Legion Post 10 Honor Guard, with bagpipes played by Betsy Bethel-McFarland.
A lunch reception was held at Madonna High School following the service.
(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com, and followed via Twitter @CHowellWDT)