On Saturday, May 18th, 40 members of our Church of St. Francis of Assisi community participated in a 2-hour walking tour of three churches affected by the tragic events of 9-11.

We began at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.  This church was completely destroyed after the attacks on 9-11 and was completely rebuilt.  The beautiful new gem of orthodox faith is a reminder of the power of life and love that always triumphs over hatred and death.  The group enjoyed the beautiful icons of Jesus, Mary and St. Nicholas.  It is truly a church worth visiting.

From there we proceeded to the 9-11 memorial to visit Fr. Mychal Judge OFM’s name.  Fr. Mychal, who served at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi until he died that fateful day, was the first death certificate of 9-11.

The next stop on our tour was the church that survived: St. Paul’s Episcopal Chapel.  This historic church was where George Washington went to pray after he was inaugurated as the First President of the United States of America.  The Church sits very close to where the twin towers stood but was spared destruction that day.

Our tour ended at the St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church. This is the first Catholic parish in New York City.  Some of New Yorks most famous Catholics attended this church, including Bl. Pierre Toussaint and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.  This Church was damaged on 9-11 but survived.  Fr. Mychal’s body was brought here and placed in front of the altar that day.  After the 9-11 cross emerged from the rubble during the removal of the debris, it was housed at St. Peter’s until it was moved to the 9-11 museum.  A new steal cross now stands on the spot where the original cross once stood.

This tour was hosted by our CONVERGE @St. Francis Parish Life ministry.  It was a wonderful day!  Converge organizes events for members of St. Francis which are always open to all members. Our goal is to help strengthen our bonds of community in our parish community and enjoy some of the amazing things our city has to offer.

Click HERE to see a calendar of all of CONVERGE @St. Francis’ upcoming events.

The next two events are the Botanical Gardens Tour and the Parish Picnic.