The National 9/11 Memorial and Museum was opened on the site of the destroyed towers in 2011. The memorial is a parapet with the names of the victims. The names of our compatriots are also among them. There is a waterfall behind the parapet. It symbolizes tears for those who died that day. Flowers are continuously brought to the memorial.
But here's what else, in my opinion, is important: today, on September 11, Orthodox believers mourned the Beheading of John the Baptist. The prophet was 33 years old. They beheaded him, and brought his head on a plate to the hall, where the then ruler of Galilee Herod Antipas feasted with the courtiers. It was him who ordered this execution.
What a telling coincidence! When a big disaster strikes, we, as if out of habit, say: "The world will never be the same again." That’s what they said, I believe, after the murder of John the Baptist, after heavy and destructive wars, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the terrorist attacks in Moscow and other Russian cities, the hostage-taking in Beslan and Nord-Ost and the September 11 tragedy in New York...
Yes, the world is changing before our eyes. And we? How many innocent people must die before we understand and figure out how to live our lives?
I want to say my words of sympathy to the families and friends of those killed in the terrible terrorist attack. But no words could comfort them enough. There is the pain that would not go away. And which will never pass. I grieve with all my heart.