Wednesday marked 10 years since 20 students and six educators lost their
lives in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, 2012.
People of all faiths were invited to a memorial Mass at St.
Rose of Lima Church in Newtown Wednesday evening. Ten years ago, that
church was the site of eight funerals for the victims. Every year since, people
have come together to mark Dec. 14.
The memorial service has become a tradition and over the past decade,
survivors of the shooting have taken part even as they grow up and begin to
enter adulthood.
Students from Sandy Hook place angel ornaments on a tree in memory of
the children and adults who died.
The priest says he will always remember what it was like at this
church 10 years ago on that dark night.
"They were singing Christmas carols, hanging rosary beads on our
trees, lighting candles, doing what they had to be together. It was a cold
night, but we opened all the doors and windows so people could stand outside
and hear what was going on. It was an amazing outpouring of affection and
community. People didn't want to be alone, they needed to be together,"
said Monsignor Robert Weiss.
One thing that is different this year is a memorial where people can
come and place a candle.
The reflective pool is surrounded by stones bearing the names of the
lives lost, with a sycamore tree in the middle.
The memorial, which was covered in flowers Wednesday, will close for the winter and reopen in the spring.