At a crowded interfaith service three days after the Boston Marathon bombings and to loud applause, President Obama praises Bostonians 'resolve' and 'compassion.'
President Obama pauses while speaking at an interfaith healing service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Thursday, for victims of Monday's Boston Marathon bombings.
Charles Krupa/AP
EnlargeThree days after bomb blasts brought a devastating halt to the Boston Marathon, an interfaith ?healing our city? gathering served as a focal point for Bostonians struggling to find comfort, renew their spirits, and express their care for one another.
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It revealed a city that, while shaken by the violence, hasn?t been knocked off its feet.
?Your resolve is the greatest rebuke to whoever committed this heinous act,? said President Obama, who flew with the First Lady to Boston to attend the event alongside local leaders. ?If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorize us, to shake us from ? the values that make us who we are, as Americans ? well, it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it.?
Despite the somber occasion, Bostonians were in a mood to greet that sentiment with loud applause. And they rallied similarly behind the president when he tapped into the city?s passion for sports, predicting that crowds would again line Boylston Street for future marathons and post-championship parades.
The appearance by the president brought needed encouragement to the city, as did the prayers offered by ministers and the remarks from others, including Mayor Thomas Menino and Gov. Deval Patrick.
But the event at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston?s South End also showed Mr. Obama and other leaders drawing strength from this city and its residents.
?You?ve shown us, Boston, that in the face of evil, Americans will lift up what?s good,? Obama said. ?In the face of cruelty, we will choose compassion.?In the face of those who would visit death upon innocents, we will choose to save and to comfort and to heal.?We?ll choose friendship. We?ll choose love.?
In tough times, those qualities heal, and they?ve been on display in Boston since Monday in everything from direct care for victims to small acts of kindness, such as sharing hugs with friends or stopping to hold a door for a stranger.
Bostonians have also been joining together at a range of prayer meetings. The service Obama attended Thursday, an interfaith event with various dignitaries on view and overflow crowds out in the street, was the biggest.
?Any time you have this kind of trauma ? it?s important to have a way for everybody to get together,? said Byron Rushing, a representative in the statehouse who attended the meeting.
It is an important moment, he said, for a city of great diversity that has not always been known for cohesiveness, to preserve and build on a hard-won unity.
?We have worked very hard to be a city for everybody,? he said.
The meeting drew together people of all faiths and backgrounds ? and it drew a much larger crowd than could fit in the roughly 2,000-seat cathedral.
While special access was provided for bombing victims and their families, others had to line up early in the morning for a chance to attend.
Monica Etzel, who was visiting from Salt Lake City, said Boston was slow and quiet, different than she remembered from her previous visits.??Boston is a grieving city,? she said as she waited to attend the 11 a.m. event. ?The mood is somber, but people are being so kind.?
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