The St. Peter's Memorial Cross

Before it was installed, the cross outside St. Peter's Catholic Church in Manhattan traveled 4,500 miles across the U.S. on the bed of sculptor Jon Krawczyk's pickup truck. Inside the cross are pieces of paper containing prayers of loss and hope written by schoolchildren, firefighters, police officers and religious leaders. St. Peter's had been the home of the WTC Cross, an iconic I-beam from Ground Zero. When the I-beam was transferred to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the church commissioned a new cross. Says Krawczyk: "The cross will be polished to a mirror finish so each and every onlooker will see himself or herself reflected in it, hopefully thinking about those who sacrificed before them, and then considering what their own sacrifice will be. But before they think, I want people to see the beauty first, the beauty of existence, the beauty of the cross, then remember the destruction and find a better way." For more information visit stpeter9-11cross.blogspot.com.

—Lil Copan