Saint Michael Center

STORIES

A HERO FOR GOD: FATHER MYCHAL JUDGE
On September 11, 2001, Fr. Mike “laid down his life for his friends.”

Before last Christmas, Fr. Mychal Judge was grateful for his many blessings: the Franciscan priesthood he loved, his work as a fire chaplain, his family, his friends. Why did he need holiday presents, he asked, when God had already blessed him so richly?

On the morning of September 11, when Fr. Mike heard that the World Trade Center had been attacked, he quickly changed into his chaplain's uniform and rushed to Ground Zero. He was killed by debris while ministering to anyone who needed him in the lobby of Tower One.

Fr. Mike's generosity of self, his spirit of joyful sacrifice, had impacted others for years. It extended from his ministry to AIDS victims and interfaith work to serving the spiritual and emotional needs of New York’s finest. Officer Steven McDonald, a police detective who became permanently wheelchair-bound after an assailant’s bullet paralyzed him, says that frequent talks with Fr. Mike led him to forgive his attacker and become an outspoken advocate of forgiveness as way to heal anger. Fr. Mike's gentleness and deep compassion made every person he touched into a friend.

In 2001, not just New York City but the whole world saw Fr. Mike's love in action. He was the first World Trade Center victim officially recorded as dead, and a photo of firemen carrying their beloved chaplain out of the wreckage was the first image many Americans saw of the victims. Fr. Mike’s friends and fellow priests believe there’s a reason for those firsts: Fr. Mike went on ahead to welcome his fallen comrades into heaven.

As Steven McDonald said of him, "Fr. Mike is there in that next life comforting those people that have passed on from this terrible tragedy. His work has just begun."

Fr. Mike embodies the incredible heroism and selflessness of all the firefighters and police who sacrificed their lives to go to the rescue of others on September 11.

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St. Michael the Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do you, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

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