Remembering, Mourning and Praying: Where Were You September 11, 2001?

9/11 is a day Americans will never forget.

Where were you and what were you doing on September 11, 2001 when the planes flew into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Arlington, VA? During this weekend of remembrance, here are a few stories from our contributing writers.There are days we will never forget, such as the day Pearl Harbor was attacked or when President Kennedy was assassinated. September 11, 2001 also fits this description. It is a defining moment in all of our lives and in our National History.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - There are days we will never forget, such as the day Pearl Harbor was attacked or when President Kennedy was assassinated. September 11, 2001 also fits this description. I was not alive during Pearl Harbor but I do remember where I was and what I was doing the day Kennedy was shot. I also remember vividly what took place on what we now just call 9-11.

In our weekly meeting of Contributing writers, I asked them to send me a paragraph noting where they were and what they felt on September 11, 2001. Here is what some of them wrote:

Randy Sly:

I was working in my office at home when my wife called upstairs, "I think a small plane just hit the World Trade Center! At least that's what they think happened." I rushed down to the family room where my wife, my daughter and her husband (who had just moved here) were seated. By that time the video had been replayed several time by the news station and the actual story confirmed. We sat in horror and watched the second plane impact the building on live TV. It was not long after that the Pentagon - about 20 miles from my house - was the target for a third plane. Then flight 83 went down in Pennsylvania. In less than an hour and a half our world forever changed.

I was an archbishop in the Charismatic Episcopal Church at the time and I quickly tried to call a number of our parishioners who worked in or near the area. All the while, we were glued to the television.

Living close to Dulles Airport and near to Reagan National and various military bases, the skies around Northern Virginia are always busy. Now, with all non-military flights grounded, it was strangely quiet and the sky was blue but empty - except for a periodic fighter jet.

That evening, I celebrated Mass for a new religious order that had just been formed. We also prayed fervently for the victims, families and our nation. On the way home I stopped at a Giant grocery store to pick up a few things. Of course, I was still wearing my clerical shirt and collar. The store "felt" weird with people quietly and somberly walking the aisles, pushing their carts. Wherever I went in the store, people greeted me, which is not typical for our area of the country. "Good evening, father," "I'm praying for our country, father," "God is our only hope, isn't he, father."

Jennifer Hartline:

My mother came in to wake me up.  She shook me by the shoulder - hard.  "Wake up!" she said urgently.  "We're being attacked."

It was 6:30 a.m. in California, and I was sound asleep with my three month-old daughter by my side.  I was startled by what my mom had said and the look on her face immediately filled me with fear.

I don't think we took our eyes off the television for a single moment the rest of the day.  Never in my life had I ever seen the unthinkable happening in real time.  Sitting on my mother's couch, holding my firstborn, I watched the Towers fall and tried to wrap my mind around it.  Like everyone else in the nation, I came to realize this day marked the beginning of a brand new "normal."  Life would never be the same.

My husband was in Kansas for Army training, and it was hours before I could reach him by phone.  The installation was on lockdown - no one allowed on or off, people told to remain in their quarters or office.  As the day wore on and talk of terrorism and war ensued, I wondered whether he was about to be sent to fight in a country I'd honestly never given a second thought prior to that day.  Not a day goes by anymore that I don't think about Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mark Henry:

On the morning of September 11, I was having breakfast at my home with a seminarian who happened to be a dead ringer for Osama Bin Laden (without the beard).  This seminarian is now an amazing priest whose ordination I attended in Rome (my oldest 2 children were confirmed on the same visit).

We heard about the attack on the radio and since we did not have a working TV (still don't), my wife Tina went to the local appliance store to buy a TV antennae.  The store was owned by an Arab, not sure if he was Muslim, who was talking excitedly over the tel. and not wanting to be bothered with ringing up of my wife's antenae purchase, he exclaimed to Tina "antenae free to you, please leave!".  Our neighborhood Arab businessman closed his business that day and never returned. 

Fr. James Farfaglia:

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was hearing confessions at 8:00 AM, thirty minutes prior to the 8:30 AM morning Mass at Most Precious Blood Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas.  I was the parochial vicar for a short period of time before Bishop Edmond Carmody asked me to start a new parish. 

Priests can never talk about what goes on within the confessional, but speaking in general terms, what I can say is that the first penitent (a very dear friend of mine) told me that something terrible had just happened in New York City.  He was not sure exactly what had happened, but he knew that it was some kind of major event. 

I had to begin Mass on time.  No one in the church knew what was going on.  Before I began Mass I announced that something terrible had just happened in New York and I asked everyone to pray extra hard for whatever was going on in the country. 

Immediately after Mass, I went to my room and turned on the television.  The first plane already had hit.  I immediately got on my knees and prayed.  I then called my brother who lives in New York State just to make sure that he had not travelled into Manhattan that day.  Thank God he was home. 

Michael Terheyden:

After I got over the initial shock of passenger jets being commandeered by Islamist terrorists and the horror that followed on 9-11, my first thought was to pray for the victims and their families. Then my thoughts turned toward my wife. She was in Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Although she was not scheduled to return home for a few days, it appeared that her return could be significantly delayed. And it was difficult to communicate with her. At one point, I lost track of her whereabouts.

As the days passed, I felt increasingly helpless and anxious, and I prayed with a humility that I had not known before. In less than an hour after my prayer, my wife called me from New York City; she was home safe and sound the next day, just one day later than scheduled!

So, readers, where were you and what was taking place in your mind and heart on September 11, 2001?

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