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September 11, 2001 seemed unremarkable as the monks and clerics of Holy Trinity Orthodox Monastery in Jordanville, Herkimer County, New York began the day. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky while a somber atmosphere accompanied the gathering as it entered the cathedral on the monastery grounds. It was the Commemoration of the Beheading of John the Baptist, Forerunner of the Lord. Since the formation of Christendom in Byzantium the sermon for the day always deals with the evil of Satan in the world. At the end of liturgy, the worshippers were shocked, but not surprised, to learn of the unfolding horror in New York City, D. C., and Pennsylvania. That Islamists would not only attack the United States but also Western Civilization at large on such an important day on the Julian calendar brought an extra dose of eternal reality to the table.

As Christ is the King of the Universe in Orthodox Christian cosmology, a sense of completion was sensed by the faithful as a cross, made from World Trade Center steel, was presented to the ROCOR Synodal Headquarters in New York City at the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The Divine Liturgy was co-celebrated by Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America and New York with Bishop Theodosius of Manhattan. It should be noted that a relic of a piece of the skull of St. John the Baptist is revered in the ROCOR monastery cathedral in Upstate NY Herkimer County.

The cross made of steel from the World Trade Center had been donated to the New York cathedral community and was received by Metropolitan Nicholas who expressed the hope that the cross would strengthen the faith of Orthodox Christians in New York City. In contrast with the nihilism of Islamists, Nicholas reiterated that Christians are called to create and edify humanity not destroy and attack it.

Metropolitan Nicholas and Bishop Theodosius were assisted in the liturgy by Archpriest Andrei Sommer.

For more on this story: https://uoj.news/news/rocor-hierarchs-celebrate-liturgy-beside-cross-made-from-world-trade-center-steel

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