NEWTOWN, Conn. — Wednesday marked 10 years since 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown were killed in a mass shooting.
A prominent Catholic church in the community held a remembrance mass Wednesday to pray for the victims, their families, and the community. Mass at St. Rose of Lima started with each of the 26 victims' names being read along with the ringing of a bell. An angel ornament was hung on a Christmas tree for each victim.
The victims' names were placed on candles on the altar, with flowers below.
“We gather tonight on this most solemn anniversary to lift our minds and our hearts in prayer. To pray for the repose of those who 10 years ago this very day lost their lives as victims of senseless, evil, murderous violence," Bishop Frank Caggiano said. “Even though 10 years have passed, the wounds that those who loved them missed them, whose hearts were literally torn open in the tragedy of this day, we pray for their family and for their friends, and for the relatives and neighbors who have a wound that will, perhaps never fully heal.”
The bishop offered prayers for the survivors of the shooting, who are now in their late teens. He prayed they continue to grow with courage and perseverance.
“Perhaps everyone was scarred in some way by what happened in that tragic morning," the bishop said. "We think tonight of those who were the first responders on that day of such great sorrow and suffering.”
Sandy Hook's Crystal Mok was in a mass service at the Newtown church that Friday morning when the shooting happened. She was with her two young boys.
"Halfway through the mass, we heard the sirens and then more sirens and that’s very unusual for a town like Newtown," she said. "That day, the mass was stopped, the children had to lock down in church. It was scary because we didn’t know. We didn’t know what was going on."
The Sandy Hook resident attended the mass Wednesday to pray for those impacted by the tragedy.
"My children were very affected by it. Even though they weren’t in the Sandy Hook school. So as a community, seeing what my children have experienced, I can only imagine the entire community," she said. "The tragedy only reinforced how wonderful this community is and how strong these people are."
St. Rose of Lima held a memorial concert Monday to give community members an opportunity to relax as the town marks 10 years.
Monsignor Robert Weiss said at the Wednesday mass the show of support will continue to propel Newtown forward.
"I thank for each one of you tonight who brought that light to this church. Just remind us that, even in the worst of times, there’s reasons to hope, there’s reasons to continue on," he said.
Mok said it saddens her that, while Connecticut enacted stricter gun laws following the 2012 shooting, parts of the country are yet to follow.
Bishop Caggiano said the wound from what happened in Connecticut continues to be inflicted as violence across the world goes on, specifically pointing to the war in Ukraine.
Tony Black is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tblack@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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