Louisville Hiroshima/Nagasaki

Commemoration Events

Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008

12:00 noon, Saturday, Aug. 9

Tolling of the Bell and

Reading of Thomas Merton’s “Original Child Bomb”

Location: Christ Church Cathedral, 421 S. Second Street, Louisville


Mitzi Friedlander and friends will read Thomas Merton’s powerful poem, “Original Child Bomb,” then the Cathedral Bell will be tolled 63 times---once for each year since the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Bell will be tolled in memory of all those who died in these bombings and all of the bombings directed at civilians in WWII. The bells will also be tolled in hope that no city will ever again be subjected to the horrors of a nuclear war and that a culture of peace prevail.

INVITE YOUR HOUSE OF WORSHIP

TO TOLL ITS BELL

AT NOON ON AUGUST 9th

To mark the 63rd Anniversary and to

8:00 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9

Lantern Floating Ceremony

Location: The lake at Lexington & Grinstead

This family-friendly activity will feature prayers, readings about Hiroshima, testimony from a Hiroshima survivor and from one of the first Americans to visit Hiroshima after the atomic bombing in 1945, and music by Heidi Howe. At the conclusion of the event, those present will be invited to float lighted lanterns in a fashion that has become a tradition in Japan.  In Japan, the lantern floating ceremony is a remembrance of departed loved ones, particularly those who died in the atomic bombings in World War II.

The events are sponsored by the Louisville Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration Committee

with the support of Interfaith Paths to Peace, and in cooperation with

The Fellowship of Reconciliation, Center for Faith and Action, St. William Catholic Church

and Pax Christi, the Roman Catholic peace and justice organization.