Full Text of Obama’s Healing Our City Speech
The following is the full text of President Barack Obama’s remarks at the interfaith service held at Cathedral of The Holy Cross in the South End of Boston on April 18, 2013, as provided by the White House’s press office: Hello, Boston! Scripture tells us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Run with endurance the race that is set before us. On Monday morning, the sun rose over Boston. The sunlight glistened off the Statehouse dome. In the Common and the Public Garden, spring was in bloom. On this Patriot’s Day, like so many before, fans jumped onto the T to see the Sox at Fenway. In Hopkinton, runners laced up their shoes and set out on a 26.2-mile test of dedication and grit and the human spirit. And across this city, hundreds of thousands of Bostonians lined the streets — to hand the runners cups of water and to cheer them on. It was a beautiful day to be in Boston — a day that explains why a poet once wrote that this town is not just a capital, not just a place. Boston, he said, “is the perfect state of grace.” And then, in an instant, the day’s beauty was shattered. A celebration became a tragedy. And so we come together to pray, and mourn, and measure our loss. But we also come together today to reclaim that state of grace — to reaffirm that the spirit of this city is undaunted, and the spirit of this country shall remain undimmed. To Governor Patrick; Mayor Menino; Cardinal O’Malley and all the faith leaders who are here; Governors Romney, Swift, Weld and Dukakis; members of Congress; and most of all, the people of Boston and the families who’ve lost a piece of your heart. We thank you for your leadership. We thank you for your courage. We thank you for your grace. I’m here today on behalf of the American people with a simple message: Every one of us has been touched by this attack on your beloved city. Every one of us stands with you. Because, after all, it’s our beloved city, too. Boston may be your hometown, but we claim it, too. It’s one of America’s iconic cities. It’s one of the world’s great cities. And one of the reasons the world knows Boston so well is that Boston opens its heart to the world. Over successive generations, you’ve welcomed again and again new arrivals to our shores — immigrants who constantly reinvigorated this city and this commonwealth and our nation. Every fall, you welcome students from all across America […]
For Many, Obama Visit is Start of Healing Journey
The two blasts that rocked the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon caused physical damage to Boylston Street and killed or injured hundreds of innocent people. News of the bombing traveled backward along the 26.2-mile course instantaneously, affecting every inch of the annual race. Three days later in a new, high-security Boston, local dignitaries, political officials, families of the three people who were killed in the bombings, hundreds of Boston Athletic Association volunteers, Boston Police, fire and medical personnel and The First Family gathered at the Church of the Holy Cross for an interfaith service in Boston’s South End to pray for the victims and to attempt to close this dark chapter of the marathon’s 117 year history. President Barack Obama stirred the solemn crowd with a speech that highlighted the display of strength of a close-knit city and especially the victims. “Know this,” he said. “As you begin this long journey to recovery: your city is with you, your Commonwealth is with you, your country is with you, we will all be with you for when you learn to stand and walk and, yes, run again. Of that I have no doubt: You will run again.” Hopkinton volunteers find solace in president’s words Monday, April 15 was as beautiful a race-day one could ask for. When the bombs went off at 2:49 p.m., the shockwave of information reached Hopkinton as fast as it takes to send a text message. There stood Boston Athletic Association volunteers Patryk Kornecki and Robert George, sending runners off at the starting line on Main Street. When the bombs went off they’d already wrapped up their day’s work, but knew that pain and fear would lie ahead. They were in attendance along with several volunteers wearing blue and white Boston Marathon jackets in a show of strength and solidarity, rising to simultaneously defy the bombers and be at the sides of the victims. “The thing is…our whole society was down,” George, 21, said in an interview after the ceremony, “With President Obama giving such a moving speech it just uplifted the whole society.” George said the show of support since Monday has filled him with a sense of pride for the running community and the people of Massachusetts. “It gives a sense of pride, of devotion to the whole community to rise again, to forget about the tragedies…and look toward a better future,” he said. Wellesley attendees drew strength from meaning of Patriots’ Day Up the road, at mile marker 13.1 in Wellesley, Marathon Monday is nothing short of Mardi Gras. The Wellesley College women form the “scream tunnel,” where […]