Newtown seeks solace in faith on tragedy’s 8th anniversary
NEWTOWN — Newtowners separated by coronavir us restrictions relied on their f aith to make connections with each other during a virtual prayer ser vice on Monday to mark the tragic Sandy Hook shooting eight years ago.
“In this season when the nights are getting longer and longer and when we must deal with darkness seeming to over whelm us, our f aith traditions remind us that light shines even in the midst of the darkest times,” said the Rev. Matt Crebbin, pastor of Newtown Congregational Church. “Our light can come forth and transform the world.”
The virtual prayer service, sponsored by the Newtown Interf aith Council, was among a handful of annual events here and elsewhere in Connecticut that marked the December morning in 2012 when 20 first-graders and six educators were slain at Sandy Hook Elementar y School.
But unlike other years,
when ser vices have drawn the media and VIPs, obser vances were private or conducted online to comply with pandemic guidelines.
At St. Rose of Lima Church, for example, the annual Sandy Hook anniversar y Mass was conducted in private, to keep the crowd under the 100-person COVID-19 cap, with two smaller morning Masses offered for the public.
Similarly, a morning vigil to honor Connecticut gun violence victims was conducted virtually.
But like Sandy Hook anniversaries in previous years, there was no shortage of VIPs offering condolences.
“I think about how that day eight years ago was the saddest day we had in the White House,” tweeted President-elect Joe Biden, who in 2012 was vice president. “I know the pain never goes away.”
And from the Senate floor, Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy each paid tribute to the beauty of the lives that were lost, and the strength of the families who lost them.
“That day changed us forever,” Blumenthal said. “That day still haunts me.”
The virtual inter faith service on Monday featured prayers from various faith traditions, readings from sacred text sand quiet time for people to reflect in their own way.
There was also a reading of the names of the victims.
“May their souls and their lives and memories inspire us to create a better world,” said Rabbi Bar ukh Schectman of Congregation Adath Israel.
The Rev. Lori Miller, of Newtown United Methodist Church, offered a prayer for those grieving.
“We jo in our hearts in prayer, looking for that solidarity with the holy — looking for that strength and peace that only God can give,” Miller said.
The Rev. Andrea Castner Wyatt of Trinity Episcopal Church agreed.
“We remember love which cannot be destroyed by violence,” Castner said. “Love that surely lives on somehow in the tender mercy and myster y that is God.”
The virtual prayer ser vice capped a solemn day in Newtown that saw flags lowered to half staff in front of school buildings closed by COVID-19.
Some f aculty and staff started their day with a virtual prayer service while students in the higher grades received age- appropriate messages of comfort and remembrance in their study spaces at home.
Before the school day began, Newtown’s congressional delegation released statements of solidarity with Newtown.
“[W]here there’s grief, there’s hope,” Sen. Murphy said. “I continue to be inspired by the advocates in Newtown and across this countr y who won’t stop fighting to make this world a gentler, safer place for our children and our communities.”