Victims of 9/11 remembered despite COVID-19 fears

9/11 Memorial & Museum, which coordinates the ceremonies held at the site of the former World Trade Center, announced that this year there would be no “Roll Call of Names” or “Tribute in Light” that were an integral part of the yearly remembrance held on Patriot Day. Survivors of those who died at the Twin Towers, as well as first responders and elected officials were outraged. The reason the 9/11 Memorial & Museum wanted to delete these two customs was for fear that the large crowds drawn by both the Roll Call and the Tribute in Light would make it impossible to practice social distancing and thereby spread more cases of the coronavirus.

After numerous protests by the surviving families, first responders and elected officials, the leadership of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum eventually had a change of heart. This year’s events at Ground Zero included a recording of the reading of victims’ names instead of the in-person readings by victims’ families.

“Why were these customs so important to people?” Because we are not just spirits but embodied spirits. We are not just bodies, not just souls but a composite of both principles of being. The material principle of our being demands tangible signs and symbols, including language, to communicate with others, to express our feelings to others. The Roll Call of Names and Tribute in Light were two such tangible signs and symbols. As each name of a loved one was pronounced by a member of that person’s family, albeit was recorded from a previous year, the microphone made this name audible to everyone assembled and those who were live-steaming or watching the memorial watching on television. Immediately after pronouncing the name of a loved one who died at Ground Zero, a bell was rung. Once more, the ringing of the bell conjured thoughts of church bells that summon people to attention — be this the call to worship, the call to pause as in the custom of the Angelus — the bell was heard and evoked a response which, in the case of the Roll Call of Names, was a prayer, a thought, a wish. This bell gave flesh to the memory of each person lost on September 11, 2001.

The Tribute in Light became an important symbol of Patriot Day because the two identical beams of light resembled the Twin Towers and lit up the sky. Just as the bell in the Roll Call of Names appeals to our sense of hearing, so the Towers of Light touched our hearts through the sense of sight. In our observance of Patriot Day, namely, the Roll Call of Names and Tribute in Light were again integral parts of the whole that we call “remembrance.”

We gave our word 19 years ago that we would never forget what happened to the United States at the site of the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. May we always be people of our word and abide by this promise to remember. Through the grace of our prayer, be it liturgical or personal, may the aforementioned survivors who cling to the sound of the bell as it tolls during the Roll Call of Names and who pine to see the double beams of light from the Tribute in Light always receive solace from these two customs. May they always feel loved and muster the courage to trust that, while their loved ones may be gone, they will never be forgotten. More importantly, may we never cease to remember that Patriot Day is not the story of terrorism’s triumph. It is not just the story of countless heroes. It is the day when, through the clouds of dust, debris and destruction, the voice of God was heard by those who left this world in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa., September 11, 2001. On that day, just one word was uttered by the Lord; yet it continues to echo even today: “Arise!”

Father Comandini is managing  editor of “The Catholic Spirit.”