By Anush Elbakyan, Boston.com Correspondent

The DNA and fingerprints on a bomb fragment recovered from the scene of Boston Marathon attacks do not match the widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, according CBS News.

FBI agents visited the widow of suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev at her family’s home in North Kingstown, R.I., on April 29. CBS News reports that FBI went to the Rhode Island home with a court order to collect a DNA sample from Katherine Russell.

"That could end up being anybody – a store clerk, one of the victims of the bombings – and they may never know,” said CBS News senior correspondent John Miller.

Russell lived with Tsarnaev and their 3-year-old child in Cambridge. Her parents still live in Rhode Island.

By Jack Pickell, Boston.com Staff

The things some people will do to get a raise from their company: Come in early or stay late, take work home with them, work through lunches...

And some just get inked.

A New York real estate company, Rapid Realty, is offering workers a 15 percent raise if they get a permanent tattoo of the company's logo.

An estimated 40 employees have gone under the needle so far.

By Jack Pickell, Boston.com Staff

At the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, the president took a break from the jokes to remember the events surrounding the Boston Marathon bombings, and offered praise to The Boston Globe and Boston.com for its coverage of the tragedy.

"If anyone wonders, for example, whether newspapers are a thing of the past, all you needed to do was pick up or log on to papers like The Boston Globe," the president said. "When their communities and the wider world needed them most, they were there, making sense of events that might at first blush seem beyond our comprehension. And that's what great journalism is, and that's what great journalists do."

He also gave a Boston-based compliment to NBC News correspondent Pete Williams, saying that Williams' new nickname is "Big Papi."

By Sharon Scott-Chandler, executive vice president of Action for Boston Community Development Inc. (ABCD)

At one point In her popular and controversial book "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead," Sheryl Sandberg quotes Ellen Bravo, Director of the Family Values @ Work Consortium, who observes: “…most women are not thinking about ‘having it all’, they’re worried about losing it all – their jobs, their children’s health, their family’s financial stability – because of the regular conflicts that arise between being a good employee and a responsible parent.”

Which raises the question, “can poor women lean in?” Are this book and the “Lean In” movement relevant for low-income women struggling to pay rent, put food on the table, and hang on to their jobs?

Absolutely! Perhaps there is a different reality for supervisors at fast-food restaurants and hotel cleaning services who may approach employees’ new-found self-confidence and concerns about work-life balance differently than Fortune 500 CEOs, but good managers everywhere know that energized, motivated employees enhance productivity. “Lean In” encourages workers to pursue their goals vigorously, to be ambitious in any pursuit.

Sandberg states that workplace conditions for all women will improve when there are more women in leadership roles giving strong and powerful voice to their needs and concerns. In addition, the vigor and enthusiasm of the “Lean In” movement is bound to reach employers, inform and sensitize them, and ultimately facilitate institutional change that makes a difference for the 62,000 women in Boston and 18 million nationwide who live below the poverty level. The vast majority of them head single-parent households.

Lean In is primarily directed toward professional women who are educated, career focused, and milling around the ladder to corporate success. But the content is eminently transferable to women at every economic level. Sandberg shows readers how to shed internal barriers that may be holding them back. She encourages them to take risks. She asserts that not only can women have both families and careers, they can thrive while doing so. She urges women to “internalize the revolution,” to make achieving success personal, to not count on removing institutional barriers and changing social policy as the feminists of the 1970s sought to do, but to tear down the internal barriers that keep them from moving forward.

Her menu of change includes increasing self-confidence to make sure you are at the table in the workplace, getting partners to do more at home, not holding yourself to unattainable standards (get it done, rather than get it perfect), not being afraid. These would constitute tall orders for low-income women who are often heading households by themselves, but with adaptation of some of her advice it can work.

Those of us who started out poor or struggle now with economic difficulties or work with people in the low-income community know about the talent, intelligence, motivation, and strength that propel so many in the community to improve their situations – often by “leaning in” to take advantage of a rare opportunity. And it is just that one opportunity that can bring hope and can help achieve dramatic life change. At ABCD we see women who work all day, rush home to fix dinner for their children, and head out to Urban College classes in the evening. They are moving up. They possess a wealth of work and life skills and can benefit hugely from the “Lean In” movement, now and in the future.

The internal barriers that Sandberg highlights – how women hold themselves back – apply to poor women also. “Leaning In,” being ambitious in every pursuit and not afraid to say what you need, is important whether you are working in high tech or retail or service, earning six figures or minimum wage.

But women of low-income – and all women – need more than encouragement. Women (and men) need quality, affordable early childhood care, and education – it is the essential component of any workplace success. Families need health care coverage and paid parental leave. Ongoing and increased funding is needed for the institutions that promote opportunities for women and families: higher education and workforce development programs, Head Start, financial literacy programs, summer jobs and skill building programs for young women and men, low-income teenagers, and many others. Every dollar invested has a huge payback to society.

Perhaps the new, non-profit foundation, LeanIn.org, can also fund scholarship assistance, community-based initiatives, and other support for women in need whose talents will truly make a difference.

I applaud Sandberg's charge to working women and hope that she uses her well-earned and deserved clout to support the programs and institutions that give women in need the tools to move forward with their lives. Let’s give them the opportunity to achieve their full potential and ensure stability and success for their children. Together we can change the world!

Chandler, an attorney, is also a trustee at Urban College of Boston.

On the cover of its May edition, Boston Magazine pays a remarkable tribute to to the city's resilience. The image features 120 running shoes, all worn during the Boston Marathon, shaped in a heart around the headline: “We Will Finish the Race.”

The magazine features 15 interviews with marathon runners. Each runner was asked the same question: What did Monday’s race mean to you?

Read more on behind the scenes of the Boston Magazine cover.

The May cover of Boston magazine, made of shoes from the marathon: ow.ly/i/1Y6K9

— bostonmagazine.com (@BostonMagazine) April 25, 2013

Update>>
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been tranferred from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to a secure facility in Fort Devens, Mass., the Associated Press is reporting. The US Marshal's office confirmed that the 19-year-old suspect was moved to the Bureau of Prisons facility overnight.

Read the full story here.

Here are some of the earlier reports on the transfer:

BREAKING: Tsarnaev moved to Fort Devens overnight - shrd.by/Z51eJs @breakingnews

— WBZ Boston News (@cbsboston) April 26, 2013

JUST IN: Boston bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev transferred from hospital to prison

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 26, 2013

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev transported from hospital to detention center for inmates who need medical care.on.cnn.com/ZSDLZa

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) April 26, 2013

CONFIRMED: Boston bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev moved from hospital to prison - US Marshals Service nbcnews.to/ZoSFuJ

— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 26, 2013

Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is moved from hospital to prison, US marshals service says - @reuters

— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) April 26, 2013

Here is a list of area reflections and services to honor the victims impacted by the bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line.

Cambridge
Where: MIT athletic complex on Vassar Street
When: 12 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24
What: Memorial service for MIT Police Officer Sean Collier
Event is not open to general public. Read more details.

Brookline
Where: Coolidge Corner Theatre
When: 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 25
What: A memorial and recognition ceremony in response to the bombings
Read more details

North End
Where: Old North Church
When: 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 25
What: A vigil to honor the victims of the bombings and pray for the injured
Read more details

The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has told investigators that the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan motivated he and his brother to carry out the attack, according to a report in The Washington Post.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has acknowledged to investigators his role in the bombings near the race finish line on April 15, the Post reported. The story cites unnamed officials who describe Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan, 26, as "self-radicalized" individuals who appear to have acted on their own.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died Friday following a firefight with police in Watertown. His younger brother has been charged in the attack that killed three people and wounded more than 250 others. The younger Tsarnaev has not entered a plea.

Unnamed US officials also told The Associated Press that Tamerlan Tsarnaev read jihadist websites and extremist propaganda, including Inspire magazine, an English-language online publication produced by al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate.

By Anush Elbakyan, Boston.com Correspondent

With a manhunt underway on Friday for Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Watertown residents were ordered to stay in their homes.

But there was a lot of compassion during those tense hours.

A photo of a police officer delivering milk to a family with young children during the lockdown has gone viral. The officer's identity was at first unknown, however he was later identified by the Boston Police Department as Brookline Officer John Bradley.

Boston Police tweeted the photograph saying:

BPD Officer delivers milk to a family with young children in Watertown during the lockdown.. twitter.com/Boston_Police/…

— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston_Police) April 21, 2013

Massachusetts State Police released a video on Sunday purporting to show the hiding place of suspected Boston bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, shortly before he was taken into custody on Friday.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis spoke to the media just now. Here are some of his comments:

Also, Davis spoke earlier today on "Face the Nation."

The Copley exit from the Massachusetts Turnpike eastbound, which has been closed for the Boston Marathon bombings investigation, is set to reopen on Sunday at 3 p.m., according to State Police.

MSP reports that the Copley exit ramp from the Mass Pike EB will open today at 3:00 p.m.

— MASS STATE POLICE (@MassStatePolice) April 21, 2013

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino took a hard line this morning when asked about the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bomb attacks.

"I hope that the US Attorney takes him on the federal side and throws the book at him," Menino told ABC's "This Week" program. "These two individuals held this city hostage for five whole days."

Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, remains hospitalized in serious condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he was taken Friday once he was in police custody.

The mayor also said that information he has indicates the brothers acted on their own.

Menino said he agreed with the move to put Boston and other nearby communities on lockdown Friday, adding that officials discovered an explosive device not related to the Marathon attacks.

"At that time we found a pipe bomb at another location in our city of Boston," he said. "Another individual was taken into custody."

Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, were involved in a pursuit and later firefight with law enforcement officers late Thursday and early Friday. With wounds from both gunshots and blasts, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was taken to Beth Israel early Friday, where he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

@J_tsar appears to be the twitter handle of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Marathon bombing suspect still at large.

Here are some posted Tweets:

There are people that know the truth but stay silent & there are people that speak the truth but we don't hear them cuz they're the minority

— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 16, 2013

Ain't no love in the heart of the city, stay safe people

— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 16, 2013

No one is really violent until they're with the homies

— Jahar (@J_tsar) March 28, 2013

you will have to make tough decisions today and those decisions will influence your future, hardships will arouse and yu will roll up loud

— Jahar (@J_tsar) March 24, 2013

Evil triumphs when good men do nothing

— Jahar (@J_tsar) March 21, 2013

People come into your life to help you, hurt you, love you and leave you and that shapes your character and the person you were meant to be

— Jahar (@J_tsar) March 18, 2013

Never underestimate the rebel with a cause

— Jahar (@J_tsar) March 11, 2013

The latest as of Friday:

The One Fund Boston Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino on Tuesday announced the formation of this fund to help people most affected by the bombings.

United We Stride This non-profit group is raising money to help people who underwent amputations as a result of injuries they sustained in the Boston Marathon bombings. The group is selling T-shirts and apparel with the proceeds, plus $1 per order going to the victims. The group is on Twitter and on Facebook.

New England Patriots plan to match donations The Kraft family announced it will match $100,000 in donations to support marathon tragedy victims. patriots.com/donate

Donate to the Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund. MIT has created a Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund that will support a Collier Medal that will be awarded to individuals who demonstrate Collier’s values.

Donate to the Boston First Responders Fund The fund is being administered through the Boston Fire Fighters Credit Union, 60 Hallet St., Dorchester, MA 02124. Checks and electronic donations are welcome. Visit http://www.bosfirecu.com or call 857-220-0133. All of the funds collected will go to the victims of the attack.

A Google doc called "Caring for the Richard family" has been circulating online asking for donations for the Richard family.

Donate to the Richard family According to this Facebook posting, "Anyone looking to make a donation to help the Richard Family can go directly to Meetinghouse Bank or Vargas & Vargas Insurance in Lower Mills. The account name is: Richard Family Fund. For convenience, they have set up additional locations in Dorchester that will have a donation "drop box" for the Richard Family Fund." Check out the Facebook page for more details. The Meetinghouse Bank has set up account for Richard family to accept donations. Call 617-298-2250 and ask for customer service to get more details.

Another fund has been launched by the Salem Five. According to the bank, Bill Richard is a 1988 graduate of Salem High School. The Salem Five Charitable Foundation said it is making an initial $5,000 donation. Donations can be made at any Salem Five branch or by sending a check to Salem Five, Attn: Richard Family Fund, 210 Essex St., Salem, MA 01970.

Another fund, led by a research assistant at MIT, has been launched for the Richard family. Click here for more details.

Text to donate Patriots defensive captain Vince Wilfork is trying to help. He tweets: "Text VINCE to 50555 to donate $10 to the Vince Wilfork Foundation all proceeds until end of the month will benefit victims of Boston bombs."

Blood donation A statement from the DFCI/BWH Blood Donor Center: "The tragic events at the Boston Marathon have led to an overwhelming outpouring of support to the Blood Donor Center. If you’re considering donating blood or platelets, the center requests that you call to schedule a blood or platelet donation and consider scheduling your donation in the coming weeks to help us replenish and maintain the supply of blood products to meet the needs of patients at both Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. To schedule a donation, email blooddonor@partners.org with your preferred donation type (blood or platelets), days you prefer to donate, and a phone number."

Red Cross According to an American Red Cross statement, they have enough blood to meet the patients’ needs right now. If you are interested in donating, they suggest making appointments in the coming weeks and months by calling 1-800-RED CROSS or visiting redcrossblood.org.

From runnersworld.com "A grassroots movement began on social media and then was further organized by #RunChat, asking people to show support by wearing either a race shirt or blue and yellow today."

Just get out there and run According to this Facebook page, "The next 26.2 aren't about race prep, monthly mileage, or self. It's about our brothers and sisters, the ones we don't know but share a bond with. Run for the ones for whom today's 26.2 might have been their last, and for the ones that didn't finish. Run it in 1 day, 1 week or 1 month. Just run."

Also, a website has been set up urging people to wear emblems that say 26.2gether. A high-resolution image of the logo is provided on the page.

Need mental health assistance? The Red Cross is urging people with mental health concerns to visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS. “We call it disaster mental health, but I call it well-being,” said Kat Powers, director of communications for the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts. “If you’re having difficulty, reach out.”

How to donate to the Corcoran family Mother and daughter Celeste and Sydney were badly injured in the blast.

Can you share information about a victim? This information will not be released publicly until confirmed and The Boston Globe can keep the victim name private at a family member's request. Fill out this form.

Technology Underwriting Greater Good The campaign, hosted on Fundraise.com, has raised more than $26,000 so far, supported by groups like Terrible Labs, Twin Focus Capital, and many more within the local start-up and technology sector.

How to donate to victim Marc Fucarile A website has been set up for donations to assist Marc Fucarile. It says Fucarile had his right leg amputated above the leg, and has first, second, and third-degree burns on more than half of his body.

How to donate to victim Jeffrey Bauman A fundraising site has been set up to help pay medical expenses for Bauman, who lost his legs and suffered severe burns on his body.

BU scholarship in memory of Lingzi Lu Boston University announced it would form a scholarship in the memory of Lu, 23, from the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. Click here for details.

Help federal investigators Email any photos or videos you have of Boylston Street during the Marathon to boston@ic.fbi.gov.

You can also upload video or photo evidence at the FBI's site on the attacks.

Boston Police Tip Line Anyone with information about the marathon explosions is encouraged to call the Boston Police Department’s tip line: 1-800-494-TIPS or the task force tip line at 617-223-6610. You can also email boston@ic.fbi.gov

Hello, Boston!

Scripture tells us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Run with endurance the race that is set before us.

On Monday morning, the sun rose over Boston. The sunlight glistened off the Statehouse dome. In the Common and the Public Garden, spring was in bloom. On this Patriot’s Day, like so many before, fans jumped onto the T to see the Sox at Fenway. In Hopkinton, runners laced up their shoes and set out on a 26.2-mile test of dedication and grit and the human spirit. And across this city, hundreds of thousands of Bostonians lined the streets -- to hand the runners cups of water and to cheer them on.

It was a beautiful day to be in Boston -- a day that explains why a poet once wrote that this town is not just a capital, not just a place. Boston, he said, “is the perfect state of grace.”

And then, in an instant, the day’s beauty was shattered. A celebration became a tragedy. And so we come together to pray, and mourn, and measure our loss. But we also come together today to reclaim that state of grace -- to reaffirm that the spirit of this city is undaunted, and the spirit of this country shall remain undimmed.

To Governor Patrick; Mayor Menino; Cardinal O’Malley and all the faith leaders who are here; Governors Romney, Swift, Weld and Dukakis; members of Congress; and most of all, the people of Boston and the families who’ve lost a piece of your heart. We thank you for your leadership. We thank you for your courage. We thank you for your grace.

I’m here today on behalf of the American people with a simple message: Every one of us has been touched by this attack on your beloved city. Every one of us stands with you.

Because, after all, it’s our beloved city, too. Boston may be your hometown, but we claim it, too. It’s one of America’s iconic cities. It’s one of the world’s great cities. And one of the reasons the world knows Boston so well is that Boston opens its heart to the world.

Over successive generations, you’ve welcomed again and again new arrivals to our shores -- immigrants who constantly reinvigorated this city and this commonwealth and our nation. Every fall, you welcome students from all across America and all across the globe, and every spring you graduate them back into the world -- a Boston diaspora that excels in every field of human endeavor. Year after year, you welcome the greatest talents in the arts and science, research -- you welcome them to your concert halls and your hospitals and your laboratories to exchange ideas and insights that draw this world together.

And every third Monday in April, you welcome people from all around the world to the Hub for friendship and fellowship and healthy competition -- a gathering of men and women of every race and every religion, every shape and every size; a multitude represented by all those flags that flew over the finish line.

So whether folks come here to Boston for just a day, or they stay here for years, they leave with a piece of this town tucked firmly into their hearts. So Boston is your hometown, but we claim it a little bit, too.

I know this because there’s a piece of Boston in me. You welcomed me as a young law student across the river; welcomed Michelle, too. You welcomed me during a convention when I was still a state senator and very few people could pronounce my name right.

Like you, Michelle and I have walked these streets. Like you, we know these neighborhoods. And like you, in this moment of grief, we join you in saying -- “Boston, you’re my home.” For millions of us, what happened on Monday is personal. It’s personal.

Today our prayers are with the Campbell family of Medford. They're here today. Their daughter, Krystle, was always smiling. Those who knew her said that with her red hair and her freckles and her ever-eager willingness to speak her mind, she was beautiful, sometimes she could be a little noisy, and everybody loved her for it. She would have turned 30 next month. As her mother said through her tears, “This doesn’t make any sense.”

Our prayers are with the Lu family of China, who sent their daughter, Lingzi, to BU so that she could experience all this city has to offer. She was a 23-year-old student, far from home. And in the heartache of her family and friends on both sides of a great ocean, we’re reminded of the humanity that we all share.

Our prayers are with the Richard family of Dorchester -- to Denise and their young daughter, Jane, as they fight to recover. And our hearts are broken for 8-year-old Martin -- with his big smile and bright eyes. His last hours were as perfect as an 8-year-old boy could hope for -- with his family, eating ice cream at a sporting event. And we’re left with two enduring images of this little boy -- forever smiling for his beloved Bruins, and forever expressing a wish he made on a blue poster board: “No more hurting people. Peace.”

No more hurting people. Peace.

Our prayers are with the injured -— so many wounded, some gravely. From their beds, some are surely watching us gather here today. And if you are, know this: As you begin this long journey of recovery, your city is with you. Your commonwealth is with you. Your country is with you. We will all be with you as you learn to stand and walk and, yes, run again. Of that I have no doubt. You will run again. You will run again.

Because that’s what the people of Boston are made of. Your resolve is the greatest rebuke to whoever committed this heinous act. If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorize us, to shake us from those values that Deval described, the values that make us who we are, as Americans -- well, it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it. Not here in Boston. Not here in Boston.

You’ve shown us, Boston, that in the face of evil, Americans will lift up what’s good. In the face of cruelty, we will choose compassion. In the face of those who would visit death upon innocents, we will choose to save and to comfort and to heal. We’ll choose friendship. We’ll choose love.

Scripture teaches us, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” And that’s the spirit you’ve displayed in recent days.

When doctors and nurses, police and firefighters and EMTs and Guardsmen run towards explosions to treat the wounded -- that’s discipline.

When exhausted runners, including our troops and veterans -- who never expected to see such carnage on the streets back home -- become first responders themselves, tending to the injured -- that’s real power.

When Bostonians carry victims in their arms, deliver water and blankets, line up to give blood, open their homes to total strangers, give them rides back to reunite with their families -- that’s love.

That’s the message we send to those who carried this out and anyone who would do harm to our people. Yes, we will find you. And, yes, you will face justice. We will find you. We will hold you accountable. But more than that; our fidelity to our way of life -- to our free and open society -- will only grow stronger. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but one of power and love and self-discipline.

Like Bill Iffrig, 78 years old -- the runner in the orange tank top who we all saw get knocked down by the blast -- we may be momentarily knocked off our feet, but we’ll pick ourselves up. We’ll keep going. We will finish the race. In the words of Dick Hoyt, who’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, in 31 Boston Marathons -- “We can’t let something like this stop us.” This doesn’t stop us.

And that’s what you’ve taught us, Boston. That’s what you’ve reminded us -- to push on. To persevere. To not grow weary. To not get faint. Even when it hurts. Even when our heart aches. We summon the strength that maybe we didn’t even know we had, and we carry on. We finish the race. We finish the race.

And we do that because of who we are. And we do that because we know that somewhere around the bend a stranger has a cup of water. Around the bend, somebody is there to boost our spirits. On that toughest mile, just when we think that we’ve hit a wall, someone will be there to cheer us on and pick us up if we fall. We know that.

And that’s what the perpetrators of such senseless violence -- these small, stunted individuals who would destroy instead of build, and think somehow that makes them important -- that’s what they don’t understand. Our faith in each other, our love for each other, our love for country, our common creed that cuts across whatever superficial differences there may be -- that is our power. That’s our strength.

That’s why a bomb can’t beat us. That’s why we don’t hunker down. That’s why we don’t cower in fear. We carry on. We race. We strive. We build, and we work, and we love -- and we raise our kids to do the same. And we come together to celebrate life, and to walk our cities, and to cheer for our teams. When the Sox and Celtics and Patriots or Bruins are champions again -- to the chagrin of New York and Chicago fans -- the crowds will gather and watch a parade go down Boylston Street.

And this time next year, on the third Monday in April, the world will return to this great American city to run harder than ever, and to cheer even louder, for the 118th Boston Marathon. Bet on it.

Tomorrow, the sun will rise over Boston. Tomorrow, the sun will rise over this country that we love. This special place. This state of grace.

Scripture tells us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” As we do, may God hold close those who’ve been taken from us too soon. May He comfort their families. And may He continue to watch over these United States of America.

My dear brothers, sisters and friends.

On behalf of our Catholic community, I wish to welcome all of you here to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. It is an honor to have our President, the Governor, and our Mayor here with us this morning. We are grateful to Governor Patrick for initiating this ecumenical and interfaith prayer service. We are delighted that Metropolitan Methodius and so many leaders from the various churches and faith communities could join us here today.

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has asked me to communicate to you his sentiments of love and support. The Holy Father invokes God’s peace upon our dead, consolation upon the suffering and God’s strength upon all those engaged in the continuing work of relief and response. The Holy Father prays that we will be united in the resolve not to be overcome by evil, but to combat evil with good, working together to build an ever more just, free and secure society for generations to come.

This year’s Patriots’ Day celebrations were marred by an act of senseless violence that has caused all of us great shock and pain. It made us relive the horror of the September 11th terrorist attack and is a stark reminder of the darkness that can lurk in the human heart and produce such evil. And yet the same tragedy brought us together as a community like nothing else ever could. The generous and courageous response of so many assures us that there resides in people’s hearts a goodness that is incredibly selfless. We saw that when summoned by great events we can be remarkably committed to the well-being of others, even total strangers. We become a stronger people, a more courageous people, and a more noble people. The police, emergency workers and even bystanders and passers-by did not hesitate to put themselves in harm’s way to help the injured and the frightened.

Our presence here is an act of solidarity with those who lost their lives or were injured in the explosions and an expression of our desire to support them and their families and loved ones.

This Patriots’ Day shakes us out of our complacency and indifference and calls us to focus on the task of building a civilization that is based on love, justice, truth and service. We do not want to risk losing the legacy of those first patriots who were willing to lay down their lives for the common good. We must overcome the culture of death by promoting a culture of life, a profound respect for each and every human being made in the image and likeness of God, and we must cultivate a desire to give our lives in the service of others.

Last week, I was in Galilee on the Mount of the Beatitudes with 30 priests from Boston. There we prayed together and listened to the very Gospel that was read for us here this morning. The Sermon on the Mount is a description of the life of the people gathered by and around the Lord. Often in the Gospels, we can see the contrast between the crowd and the community. The crowd is made up of self-absorbed individuals, each one focused on his or her own interests in competition with the conflicting projects of others. A community is where people come to value each other, and find their own identity in being part of something bigger than themselves, working together for the common good.

The Sermon on the Mount, in many ways, is the Constitution of the people called to live a new life. Jesus gives us a new way to deal with offenses, by reconciliation. Jesus gives us a new way to deal with violence, by nonviolence. He gives us a new way to deal with money, by sharing and providing for those in need. Jesus gives us a new way to deal with leadership, by drawing upon the gift of every person, each one a child of God.

In the face of the present tragedy, we must ask ourselves what kind of a community do we want to be, what are the ideals that we want to pass on to the next generation. It cannot be violence, hatred and fear. The Jewish people speak of Tikkun Olam, “repairing the world.” God has entrusted us with precisely that task, to repair our broken world. We cannot do it as a collection of individuals; we can only do it together, as a community, as a family. Like every tragedy, Monday’s events are a challenge and an opportunity for us to work together with a renewed spirit of determination and solidarity and with the firm conviction that love is stronger than death.

May ours be the sentiments of St. Francis of Assisi, who prayed:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is sadness, joy.

Amen.

In my faith tradition, scripture teaches: “In every thing give thanks.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) That isn’t always easy to do. On Monday afternoon, I wasn’t feeling it. What I felt, what so many of us felt then, was shock and confusion and anger.

But the nature of faith, I think, is learning to return to the lessons even when they don’t make sense, when they defy logic. And as I returned to those lessons this week, I found a few things to be thankful for.

I’m thankful for the firefighters and police officers and EMTs who ran towards the blasts, not knowing whether the attack was over – and the volunteers and other civilians who ran to help right along side them.

I’m thankful for the medical professionals -- from the doctors and trauma nurses to the housekeeping staff, to the surgeon who finished the marathon and kept on running to his operating room -- all of whom performed at their very best.

I’m thankful for the agents from the FBI and the ATF, for the officers from the State Police and Boston PD, for the soldiers from the National Guard and all the other law enforcement personnel who both restored order and started the methodical work of piecing together what happened and who’s responsible.

I’m thankful for Mayor Menino, who started Monday morning frustrated he couldn’t be at the finish line this time, as he always is, and then late that afternoon checked himself out of the hospital to help his city, our city, face down this tragedy.

I’m thankful for those who have givenblood to the hospitals, money to the OneFund, and prayers and messages of consolation and encouragement from all over the world.

I’m thankful for the presence and steadfast support of the President and the First Lady, our former governors, the civic and political leaders who are here today, and for the many, many faith leaders who have ministered to us today and in the days since Monday.

I’m thankful for the lives of Krystle and Lingzi and little Martin, and for the lives of the families who survive them, and for the lives of all the people hurt but who still woke up today with the hope of tomorrow.

And I am thankful, maybe most especially, for the countless numbers of people in this proud City and this storied Commonwealth who, in the aftermath of such senseless violence, let their first instinct be kindness. In a dark hour, so many of you showed so many of us that “darkness cannot drive out darkness,” as Dr. (Martin Luther) King said. “Only light can do that.”

How very strange that the cowardice unleashed on us should come on Marathon day, on Patriots’ Day, a day that marks both the unofficial end of our long winter hibernation and the first battle of the American Revolution. And just as we are taught at times like this not to lose touchwith our spiritual faith, let us also not lose touch with our civic faith.

Massachusetts invented America. And America is not organized the way countries are usually organized. We are not organized around a common language or religion or even culture. We are organized around a handful of civic ideals. And we have defined those ideals, through time and through struggle, as equality, opportunity, freedom and fair play.

An attack on a civic ritual like the Marathon, especially on Patriots’ Day, is an attack on those values. And just as we cannot permit darkness and hate to triumph over our spiritual faith, so we must not permit darkness and hateto triumph over our civic faith. That cannot happen. And it will not.

So, we will recover and repair. We will grieve our losses and heal. We will rise, and we will endure. We will have accountability, without vengeance. Vigilance, without fear.And we will remember, I hope and pray, long after the buzz of Boylston Street is back and the media has turned its attention elsewhere, that the grace this tragedy exposed is the best of who we are.

Fellow citizens, I am honored and humbled to welcome our friend, our leader, and our commander in chief, the President of the United States.

Last night on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert opened the show with a tribute to Boston. Watch what he has to say in this pride-inducing, funny, incredibly apt clip. To whet your appetite, we'll share this highlight in particular:

"Whoever did this obviously did not know about the people of Boston. Because nothing these terrorists do is gonna shake them. ... A city that withstood an 86-year-losing streak. A city that made it through the Big Dig - a construction project that backed up traffic for 16 years. I mean, there are commuters just getting home now."