Students offer prayers of hope for 9-11 victims - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Students offer prayers of hope for 9-11 victims

September 4, 2002

Albany--Nine days of prayer for those killed on September 11th is healing the hearts of some Southwest Georgia students. Saint Teresa's Catholic School in Albany is participating in a novena, nine days of prayer and sacrafice in honor of the victims.

These eighth graders are reciting a traditional prayer of peace over St. Teresa's intercom system. Students in every class join along. Since Tuesday, the children have been saying this prayer at the same time, and will do so everyday until September 11th. Student Claire Roth says,  "It really brings back a lot of bad memories but we are praying for the lives that were lost to try to help us get better."

Besides the daily prayer, students do something else to complete the novena, like saying a rosary. The kids say these prayers help them heal, but not forget. Student Brittnay James says, "We were in social studies, they turned on a radio. Everyone was crying. It was scary." The prayers the students recite are helping them calm their fears, but teachers say the novena has a higher purpose. Teacher Pat Conlan says, "It's more than St. Teresa's, it's more than our country, its for our world." And, these kids hope their prayers might help heal not only their hearts, but the world. 

 Many of the students are offering up other sacrafices as part of the novena, like collecting canned food for the poor and giving up candy and sweets for a day.

Posted at 6:00 p.m. by melissa.kill@walb.com