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Members of the FDNY gathered for a prayer service at St Patrick's cathedral Sunday to pay tribute to the hundreds of the city's bravest who died on 9/11. The service honored the memory of the 343 members of the department who died it the attacks. The mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral offered friends and family the opportunity to once again gather in mourning. This time they focused on not just remembering those who were lost, but to realize they are slowly moving on from the tragedy. The Fire Department's Chaplain, Monsignor Mark Filacchione, suggested during the mass the darkness of the memory is fading. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta echoed those words, saying that each day the pain becomes more manageable. "It is something forever there, but becomes something that we learn to cope with," he said. "I think that's because the rest of life continues to go on. Family, children, work continue to demand our time, happily, I think. Because they are the stub of the new routines of life and of an eventual return to normalcy. To regain a measure of contentment and happiness, as many of you have done, is not a betrayal or a repudiation of the past." Emergency workers who were among the first to respond to the World Trade Center site after the terror attack were honored at a ceremony at 7 World Trade Sunday afternoon. Governor George Pataki saluted first responders from 38 states and some parts of Canada. In a yearly event, firefighters and other first responders gathered Sunday to walk in honor of the FDNY chaplain killed in the attacks. Father Mychal Judge was killed by falling debris as he assisted with rescue efforts. Father Judge was remembered as a man dedicated to serving others. "People have asked me 'what type of a man was he?' And the only response that I could give was that he was a walking talking saint," said retired FDNY Captain Jim Ellison. "Father Judge was a remarkable man," said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. "Obviously, the whole event, the memorial five years later, we never forget. We never forget our fallen heroes, police officers, firefighters, EMS workers and of course the 2,700 people who lost their lives on that tragic day." Many also gathered for a mass earlier in the day to remember Father Judge's work in the church and to pray for peace and healing.
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