Faith Community Shows Support for Marriotts

A special prayer for Elizabeth Marriott's safe return, and for her family, was to be part of last Saturday's 5 p.m. Mass at Westborough's St. Luke the Evangelist Parish.

And then, about 90 minutes before the Mass, Msgr. Michael Foley, the Roman Catholic church's pastor, read on Westborough Patch that "she had died," Foley said today.

instead, Foley said that at the beginning of the service, he asked those gathered to remember Marriott and her loved in a "special way" during the service. They also prayed for them once during the service.

Foley said he also spoke with several individuals who were, "in some cases close to the family, and in other cases, had their own kids, and the fear that this raised."

Foley said that as a pastor, "there's not a lot you can say" in such situations.

"What you do in a situation like this is try to be as present as you can to the people who are really suffering, and you pay attention also," he said.

"You try to help them get through the immediacy of this."

The prayers at St. Luke's are just one example of the Westborough community's support for the Marriotts.

Members of St. Luke's, and Unitarian Universalist Congregational Society of Westborough, were among several hundred people attending a vigil last Saturday night at Bay State Commons. The Rev. John Wesley Taylor, pastor of the First United Methodist Church, spoke at the vigil.

The Unitarian Universalist congregation also lit a candle and prayed for Marriott and her family last Sunday, "and people expressed their sadness over this terrible crime," said the Rev. Cindy Frado, the Unitarian Universalist congregation's minister.

"This is a wonderful loving community, and the same can be said for the town as well.  I'm sure that when the police do find her, the entire town will turn out for her funeral," Frado said.

"We, in the clergy, will respond in whatever way we can to serve the Marriott family. This is every parent's nightmare.  Very sad, indeed."