It was a powerful moment of faith at New York City’s 9/11 25th anniversary memorial ceremony when Catherine Hernandez, daughter of 9/11 victim Norberto Hernandez, concluded her tribute by leading the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel.
Major news networks broadcast the solemn ceremony live and streamed it online, bringing Hernandez’s moving tribute to millions of viewers. Clips of her prayer have since circulated widely on social media.
“We love you and we miss you so much,” Hernandez said. “That goes for all of us. I know we all love and miss our loved ones.”
She remembered her father as a loving protector.
“My father was a gentle giant,” she said. “Protected everyone. He didn’t care who you were—if he was there [and] you needed help, he was a protector.”
Norberto Hernandez was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He worked at Windows on the World, the restaurant on the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Hernandez said her father’s witness of love inspired her own life of service.
“My father loved like no other that I ever met,” she said. “I became a police officer in his memory. I did 20 years in the New York City Police Department to protect
