National Prayer Service on September 14, 2001 from Washington National Cathedral in memory of the thousands lost in the terror attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania on 9/11/2001.
Wow I remember this so well. I was 17 at the time. How I wish our country was still this United and proud. How much we have changed and sadly it isn’t for the better.
I do too. If you haven’t watched it, look up the CSpan2 video of people in London singing Battle Hymn of the Republic for a similar service. It absolutely makes me cry when I hear them sing it and see pictures of all the people out in the street outside the cathedral. Let’s hope politics don’t overcome those bonds from decades ago.
It is amazing! I sang a concert there in April in honor of Queen Elizabeth's 60th anniversary, and we performed a piece written for us by Sir John Tavener (who was there). He insisted that the organist give it the entire great and swell, with all stops full out. I have never heard anything so powerful in my life.
I always loved this rendition. The cathedral's acoustics don't allow much more than this with so many singers. Plus the feeling after 9/11. It all cuts. Wonderful. Thanks for uploading.
when the Prez and the Generals attend church and they bust out with the Battle Hymn of the Republic...well, you know there is some serious ass about to be kicked
@@antoniocarloslemosbasto294 Defeat?? They went there to make $$ through government contracts and kickbacks....we killed hundreds of thousands of Muslims ☪️ if you think that is victory? We killed bin laden if you think that is victory, capturing our best friend in the middle east saddam hussein until we Stabbed him in back is that victory? America always wins military battles but rebuild a nation bring freedom? We do not even have that in our own country...the government of America uses these things as opportunities $$$$ trust me the powerful in our government won
As the 20th anniversary of this horrific act is upon us, there are some in this Country who should take stock of themselves, remembering the sacrifices made by women and men who gave their lives so America could remain FREE.
They could have the same at St. Matthew's Cathedral a few blocks away. But that would have been..oh my God..CATHOLIC! But this is so cool. And the cardinal was there.
Mr Hogan, pardon the interruption by the change of the screen, but the "Hogan Brothers" of Washington D.C. were Raymond and Thomas. They'd have conveyed the same ecumenical wishes.
Awhhh , the words are so powerful. God Bless America and God Bless all people in ALL countries throughout the world. Special Prayers today for all the people in Bangladesh...the world so needs healing.
I remember watching this right after 9/11. But this video is different than what was aired on live on C-SPAN. I remember during the (live) broadcast the cameras would change or alternate to live shots of the firefighters & rescue teams @ Ground Zero digging through the rubble... As soon as I saw that, in conjunction with the music, I totally lost it.
I remember watching this with my family right after 9/11. I was at my parents house in Queens because I was displaced from my apartment which was a few blocks from the WTC in lower Manhattan, and I had to be evacuated. My mother was hysterically crying because she knew this meant that the country would be going to war very soon and was afraid of what else might happen to us here. I remember being proud of the fact that we had such national unity and leadership that wasn't about to take what happened lying down. Frankly I couldn't wait for the bombs to start dropping. Even though something terrible had just happened to me (and several people I knew were dead), I had confidence in our military and our president to do the right thing. What a difference thirteen years makes. Now we have a president that hates America and ignores the constitutional limitations on his power, an IRS and Justice Department that is more likely to spy on and harass ordinary Americans than terrorists overseas, a military that is being hollowed out day after day by an administration that spends our defense money on welfare and food stamps, and a senate that is actively trying to repeal the first amendment. I never thought I'd look back fondly on the days after 9/11, but I do.
when I was a child in a episcopal choir, we were preparing to sing the battle hymn of the republic, as children, we started to sing this in a fun way. We were immediately stopped and told the meaning of this song, we are going to war. I will never forget that lesson as long as I live. It gave me chills when this was sung.
I was more ENRAGED by these attacks than "scared" or sad. And YOUR mom was deff right. We WERE going after the perpetrators. I heard a briefing by US Marine Corps General Anthony Zinny in Dec of 1997 in which HE said, that NON-state organizations like Al Quaida were a DIRECT threat to the US, while the WHOLE international security "system" was organized around defending countries from other countries or nation-states. But in FACT, Gen Zinny said, "the US was NOT going to EVER be attacked by Jaimaica or the Bahamas" HIS point was that the US was NOT really looking at the REAL threats out there and would, most probably, "learn the hard way" about the REAL threats! BOY was HE right! and that was FOUR years before 911.
I have this to say......my neighbor Frank Wolters was a trader, he was semi retired. He watched his friends die in front of the world. I also watched it because I had to go back home to grab something, I grabbed it made coffee because it didn't matter I was already late. I turned on the TV the first plane had already struck. I watched the second one take it's masterful turn, after that immediately calling my daughter on campus told her to stay put as I lived in a Naval town. I worked with Navy wives and my friend Joyce was one too her husband served in Iraq. I have never been more proud of my countrymen. Their reaction to the enemy, and their resolve. Make each day count as if it was the last one.
Very moving for me watching this again. I can remember watching the Service on television and was moved to tears watching the most awe inspiring version of this hymn ever performed. I knew then, that we would all be okay. I felt a sense of security seeing all the former Presidents in attendance along with President George W. Bush. Despite what many think of former President Bush, I believe that these were his finest days as President. He spoke well at the Cathedral and who can forget his visit to New York that Friday. He rallied a nation and for that matter the world. It's just too bad what he ended up doing with respect to Iraq. But, at this point in a most tragic part of US History, he rallied the nation.
Don’t get me wrong. As a presidents buff I love seeing them all together. And I think having him, Clinton, Bush, Carter, and Ford all there together sent a strong message to the world. But the fact is there were a lot of things we could’ve done to prevent it - most infamously the newspaper that said that Bin Laden was determined to strike on U.S.. And also what we did after the attacks.
I have never wept like I did when I saw this on TV. Gd bless you George Bush for having to endure this for our nation. God's holy mercy on those innocent brothers and sisters who I saw die that horrid day.
It seems like yesterday, it's absurd how almost 23 years have already passed like this. An event that shocked the lives of all of us, from the USA, through Europe and South America. It's a shame for the many wrong choices in the following years.
This has to have been the most moving service ever held at the cathedral and the first time policiticans came together, leaving politics outside, Clinton's gave up their seats of honor so that Momma and Papa Bush could sit with their Son, the President who had the entire Country on his shoulders, mourning the thousands lost, to remember the missing, to honor the families who were grieving, and to reclaim America. SO much of that has been lost again in the last years, politics has become dirty and as a citizen of this country I am sickened by the disgusting nature of today's politics and am embarrassed for both parties. May God continue to have mercy on this country and all our souls.
Julia Ward Howe wrote the poem, and later it was adapted from a tune "John Browns body lies a molderin in the grave", during the Civil War. The Irish later made it into a tune of their own, during their fight for independence, with different words of course.
@09WestTexas; That had to be awesome! It has been my privilige to listen to some of my friends that happen to be organists' while practicing on a Sat. morning at the organ in the empty Churches that they play for,several are Lutheran and other Denominations. I happen to belong to Sacred Heart of Jesus PNCC. Located in Minneapolis, Mn. Most of my most cherished memories are of the hours spent listening to them, and how best I felt after that. I hope that GOD continues to bless you. kevlutu
Do you have any footage from just before the service started...where the US Army Orchestra was playing a really amazing version of "God Bless America" and other tunes? They were sort of the prelude before the actual service started, I recall.
To me this song literally is America. And is a song that has so much spiritual and metaphysical meaning to it. If you really read the lyrics to the full 6 verse version you realize the incredible spiritual depth and meaning to it. I think maybe Julia Ward Howe Channeled the lyrics right from the heavenly realms or something. I know the Melody was John Brown's Body and goes back some time before the Howe Lyrics. Pipe organs are a gift from god too if you ask me.
when we get rid of political correctness ( censorship of free speech ) america will be great again. The Truth ( which comes straight from God and His word ( the bible ) sets not only individiuals free , but entire nations free from the lies of the politcal Left. This country is in terrible trouble because we have thrown God and the Bible out with the bath water
That battle hymn segment, done at the end of the prayer service, was done rather stirringly. I can still hear that organ in my head. But that was also a bad thing. We hardly heard the lyrics, the organ pretty much drowned them out. We also saw little of the choir, there was too much attention given to those flag bearers and the congregation.
To me, this hymn seems like it was divinely inspired. And that old pipe organ sounds like god himself singing. If there is a heaven, I don't think it will have much better music than this. Can't make that kind of sound on some new electronic keyboard no matter how much money you spend.
You didn't think that when the Planes hit? Because that when I knew we were at war. With who had yet to be determined. But it was the starting pistol of war with someone.
Remember that there's no such thing as religion or even a denomination in God's sight - we are what He calls the temple of the Holy Spirit. Once we have accepted Christ as our Savior who died for our sins, God will forgive us and make us His holy saints and make us temples of the Holy Spirit - no questions asked!
Islam as a religion and Muslims as a people are not the enemy, it is the authoritarian radicals (which exist in every religion and have inserted their grimy claws into every nation) who have always been the enemy. There are millions of good, honest and decent muslims and scores of American muslims whom are loyal to the same flag the theocratic tyrants in the middle east spit upon.. we need not judge the entire group for the actions of a vocal minority, we need to judge the vocal minority and deal with them and only them accordingly
I'm sorry, but I don't like the way how that wonderful hymn is performed: the drums are terrible - that doesn't fit into a mass (even if it is a patriotic one). The pipe is way too loud so you cannot hear anything of the orchestra (and it's more than unnecessary to just play some loud continous tenuto tones - I would get a tinnitus on my ears). And the final is absolutely inappropriate: that sounds like the end of the oscar awards or a big blockbuster movie - and not like a bow to the victims.
The National Cathedral is part of the Episcopal Church of America. many churches are built with Gothic or Romanesque architecture. It took almost 100 years years to build this.
heartfire451 not too far away is the George Washington National Masonic Memorial. Perhaps you have confused the two. i have been to both, and this is the Episcopal Cathedral.
