Memorial mass of hope and faith

LAC-MGANTIC Hundreds gathered in Lac-Mgantic on Sunday for a memorial mass to remember the 47 who died in a railway accident here last year.

As wind blew dust clouds past the church and through the construction site that has replaced the destroyed downtown here, firefighters, paramedics and police who responded to the explosion last year marched inside.

You have given us a beautiful message of dignity and strength. Yes, there have been tears and great suffering but at the same time there has been overwhelming generosity and love, Sherbrooke diocese archbishop Luc Cyr said, addressing the crowd inside the Ste-Agns church.

Amidst this individual and community destruction, there is a reconstruction to undergo, for the town and for us as individuals, Cyr said.

To each and every one of you: I urge you to keep your hope and faith. We will rebuild our town more beautiful than ever, Lac-Mgantic mayor Colette Roy-Laroche said after the mass.

Before the service, the town unveiled outside the church a monument to the victims a book carved in granite, inscribed with the names of the dead.

At the altar during the service, Cyr blessed Marie-Jose Rodrigue and Louis-Charles Lacroix and their six-month-old son Elliot. Lacroix and Rodrigue, who was pregnant with Elliot last July, narrowly escaped the accident.

We will never forget the victims, whose names are engraved in stone, but, at the same time, we know that life will triumph again in Lac-Mgantic, Quebec premier Philippe Couillard said, speaking before the crowd gathered outside the church.

The events of July 6, 2013, in Lac-Mgantic touched all Canadians deeply and no passage of time can erase from our consciousness the lives lost, the injured and the families torn apart by this tragedy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement on Sunday. On this sombre anniversary, let us pay tribute to their resilience, determination and extraordinary strength of character.

Governor General David Johnston, who attended a memorial mass held in the town shortly after the explosion last year, also spoke briefly after the mass on Sunday.

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Memorial mass of hope and faith