Orthodox Experiences and Response about 9/11:
.:: September 11: The New Order of Our World
The day America was attacked by Islamic terrorists was The Feast Day of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, which the Church celebrates on August the 29th. That day has always been a solemn day for Orthodox Christians. In this regard, nothing has changed. We are solemn at the remembrance of death, and we are fearful in the face of it. Suddenly, we Americans have had Death thrust into our face like never before.
The days following the murderous attacks on our country were fearful days indeed. Who among us was not filled with terror? Who among us did not weep? Who among us did not pray? Who among us does not continue to weep and pray? The answer is: Not a one.
Our Chief Shepherd, His Eminence, Metropolitan PAVLOS, found himself far away from his hometown at the moment he would have most wanted to be here. He was in Athens attending a meeting of the Holy Synod when word came to him that New York was burning. In agony he wept at the scenes televised for the entire world see. He tried frantically to get through to New York by telephone but could not. The entire Holy Synod shared his anguish in helplessly watching the scenes broadcast by CNN. The President of our Holy Synod, His Beatitude, Archbishop CHRYSOSTOMOS II of Athens and All Greece, requested that Divine Liturgies in the Old Calendar Churches of Greece be dedicated to the victims of the attacks.
Soon after the attacks, members of our Cathedral clergy in New York went as close to the ruins of the World Trade Center as they could. On the Thursday after the attacks, His Grace, Bishop CHRISTODOULOS, went to within several blocks of 'Ground Zero' and did a Trisagion Service for the victims. He was accompanied by Fr. Emmanuel Columbos and Fr. Theodore Giannakopoulos.
What they saw was dreadful. The air was filled with the dust of the crumbled Twin Towers and the 3,000 people buried beneath. It was very difficult to breath or even to see. Rescue workers struggled to carry out their Herculean tasks. Hardened journalists, accustomed to seeing carnage, stood and stared in silence at the gap in the skyline were the Towers had once stood. The tracks of their tears were clearly visible on their dust-covered faces.
Many of the faithful in the Holy Metropolis of America were directly impacted by the attacks. On the morning of September the 11th, one of the ushers of the Cathedral in New York, Nicholas Tsoumpariotis, was on his way to work. He lives on Long island and worked for Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Center on the 56th floor of Tower No. 2. That morning he missed his train and was running late. As he stepped out of the subway in New York he saw that Tower # 1 was on fire. He made his way toward Tower 2, and looking up he saw a jet disappear into his floor and explode. Nicholas walked for miles through a day become night, eventually making it home that evening to the arms of his wife and children, thankful to God.
Anastasia Nisyriou, a life-long member of our Cathedral and graduate of the Hellenic School of St. Markella, was also on her way to work that morning on the N Train from Astoria. She worked for Morgan Stanley on the 71st floor of Tower Number Two. She exited the subway and walked toward the Twin Towers. She stood across the street from the Towers and paused, looking down for a moment, and then she felt the world shake. Looking up she saw the offices of Morgan Stanley explode. A policeman standing next to her told her, "Don't worry, the buildings can't come down." She was considered going to work, but thought twice. Anastasia stood there, across the street, as Tower Two began to collapse. People began screaming, "Run for your lives!" She ran, but could not outrun the debris cloud. It engulfed her. She could not see. She could barely breath. People were hanging on each other. Out of the darkness that surrounded her someone handed her a bottle of water. She drank. She rinsed her eyes. She kept walking. She walked and walked, all the way to Astoria. Her parents were frantic having seen the television coverage. When she arrived home, Anastasia was covered in soot, debris, and the tears of her mother, father, and sister.
On the same morning the first-cousin of Bishop CHRISTODOULOS, Anastasia Fasuliotis, was stepping off the PATH train directly under the Twin Towers. As she walked to her Brooklyn bound N train the earth shook. Her train was the last one out of the station. When she made it to work at JP Morgan in Brooklyn she joined her co-workers at the windows. They watched in horror at the collapse of the Towers that contained many of their co-workers and family. Anastasia eventually made it home to her husband and children.
One of our clergymen, Deacon Michael Hallford, works on Wall Street three blocks from the World Trade Center. His building was evacuated soon after the Towers crashed. Walking for miles through the thick cloud of choking dust and burning smoke, our Deacon eventually made it home to his wife and children.
The story without the happy ending is the one about Michael Tarrou. Michael also went to work that terrible morning, in Boston. On the night before, he called his father Dimitrios in Florida. He called to let him know that he would be seeing him in a few days. On Tuesday morning Michael reported to work in Boston and took his place as the Chief Steward on United Airlines Flight 175. His was the second plane that was used as a weapon against our city. His father, Dr. Dimitrios Tarrou, is a member of our Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Clearwater, Florida. 40 days after the murder of Michael, our Metropolitan PAVLOS went to Clearwater to conduct the Memorial Service for Chief Steward Tarrou. May His Memory Be Eternal!
Metropolitan PAVLOS did what he could for his country, even while he was thousands of miles away in Greece. He went to the American Embassy in Athens and paid a condolence call to his government. As the Ambassador was out of the country, Metropolitan PAVLOS, Metropolitan CHRYSOSTOMOS of Attica, Bishop GREGORY of Christianoupolis, and Bishop PHOTIOS of Marathon, were received by the American Charge d'Affairs J. Michael Cleverley. Mr. Cleverley was deeply moved by the words of our Metropolitan who expressed his sorrow at the attack on America. Mr. Cleverley kept our bishops with him for hours as he expressed his own feelings and gratitude at the visit paid by our hierarchs.
With great joy it was learned in New York that Metropolitan PAVLOS was to return home bringing with him the Venerable Cranium of the Holy New-Martyr Saint Argyrios. On October the 3rd the Sacred and Wonderworking Relic of St. Argyrios arrived in New York. Arriving at the Cathedral the Metropolitan told the gathered crowd that he brought St. Argyrios to all the people of America, in their time of tribulation as a blessing of peace and protection.
On Sunday, October the 7th, His Eminence Metropolitan PAVLOS will celebrated a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, assisted by His Grace Bishop CHRISTODOULOS of Theoupolis, and the Cathedral clergy. Following the Divine Liturgy there was a procession of the Holy Cranium of St. Argyrios through the Cathedral, followed by a special service for peace, and the protection of New York, America, and the entire world. Throughout the week of October 7th, the Holy Relic was venerated in the Cathedral by many of the Faithful.
On October 12th, Metropolitan PAVLOS led many of the faithful on a prayerful procession through the streets of lower Manhattan. As the lunchtime throngs watched quietly, the icon of the Theotokos and the Holy Relics of St. Argyrios passed through the canyons of the financial district. The procession made its way to the ruins of the World Trade Center where our Metropolitan conducted a Holy Water service dedicating the city to Jesus Christ and to the protection of His Holy Mother the Theotokos. Assisting the Metropolitan with Bishop CHRISTODOULOS, were Bishop AGAFANGEL, and Fr. Wsevelod Dutikow from the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. Standing where the Twin Towers would have once cast their giant shadows Metropolitan PAVLOS gave a stirring speech that expressed what many had felt but could not articulate.
Most native born Americans have never experienced war and the fear and suffering it brings. Suddenly, we find ourselves face-to-face with the enemy we assumed could not come near us. Now he is living among us, he might bump into us on the street. Our very way of life seems threatened.
These awful days found many of us with a renewed appreciation for the comforts and relative peacefulness of life in America. But something has gone wrong. All is not well in the homeland and there is a great temptation to blame someone for this state of affairs. Before 9-11 some might have been quick to blame America for all the world's problems. But today, we suddenly realize the depth of our love for America, and for the way of life, the freedom, America offers.
Soon after 9/11 another jetliner crashed into the streets of New York killing everyone on board and many in their homes, some as they ate their breakfast. We found ourselves threatened by the mail carried to our very door by our friendly mailman. We all feel uneasy about what the future holds. It is a different kind of uneasiness; it is an uneasiness that has never been felt in America. It is a sensation of knowing there exists a threat to our very existence. We have not known that here until now.
There is, miraculously, as a gift from God Himself, a great blessing in this new American reality. Rare now is the man who is not conscious of his mortality. Rare now is the man who does not realize that the freedom America affords is precious and vulnerable. It seems that after a lengthy epoch Jesus Christ has been welcomed back into the American consciousness. Pray we must, that no matter what the future brings, He is also welcomed back into the American heart.
