NEWTOWN, Conn. _ A bell at St. Rose of Lima Church tolled 26 times Thursday morning, five years to the moments when a gunman took the lives of 20 students and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School, forever scarring the Fairfield County town.
Parishioners leaving a morning Mass paused to reflect as each tone was struck.
Officials in Newtown were planning a day of mostly private reflection to mark the five-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
"We pray for the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy," the priest at St. Rose of Lima Church told the 50 people who came to the Mass. "There are some heroes too."
The priest recalled reading an article about some of the families who suffered in the tragedy and how they are seeking to forgive.
"Those are heroes," he said. "Those are examples. That's Christ, truly alive."
The priest continued, "reflect as you remember their souls _ truly reflect at the beauty they reflected in their lives."
In a message to parishioners, Monsignor Robert Weiss wrote that Dec. 14, 2012, "is a day of sadness for all of us."
"Tears still well up as we recall the horrible tragedy of that day five years ago. "As a community we captured the hearts of the world who responded to us in ways too many to even begin to count and for which we will be forever grateful. The world joins us once again on this day five years later to remember and to pray."
A woman asked for prayers for teachers and students at school and that they be kept safe. A police officer stepped inside the church and stood at the back of the room during Mass for a few minutes.
Outside the church, students were arriving for school at St. Rose School, next door to the church. A Newtown police car cruised through the parking lot.
Town offices were closed from 9:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. for a moment of silence to remember the victims.
The scene at the Sandy Hook firehouse was calm compared to the nightmare of five years ago, when hundreds of people frantically gathered, looking for their children and seeking information.
Several dozen Christmas trees with a light dusting of snow on them were leaned in front of the building for sale for a fundraiser. The roof of the firehouse had 26 stars on it, six larger ones and 20 smaller ones.
Cars were traveling up Dickinson Drive to the rebuilt Sandy Hook Elementary School, which opened last year on the same site. The white sign with black lettering that featured prominently in many photographs from the day of the shooting remains standing.
Sandy Hook's main commercial area was quiet. The small shops are open, but there a few people around. At a memorial photo exhibit at Newtown's town hall, people trickled in to view photos of the 26 victims before quietly leaving.
The Rev. Lori Miller of Newtown United Methodist Church opened the sanctuary to those who need a place to pray or reflect. Some members of her congregation were deeply impacted by the tragedy.
"I think the milestones are difficult years," she said.
Newtown has an active clergy that works each year to provide those who need it with a peaceful place to go and counseling.
Miller said she has suggested people pray and talk to others as they deal with the anniversary. She also dealt with the anniversary in worship this week.
Some families deeply affected by the tragedy leave town on Dec. 14 to escape the memories and observances.
But there is still a wide range of emotions in town.
"There's a group of people who are ready to move on and a group of people who will never be able to move on," she said. The hope is to be a comfort "for wherever they are on their path to healing."
In the evening, there will be two memorial services at local churches in Newtown as well as several in other corners of the state. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has ordered flags to be at half-staff across the state.
"Though we will never know the full measure of sorrow experienced by the families who lost loved ones at Sandy Hook Elementary School, we can let them know that we stand them," Malloy wrote in a tweet Thursday morning. "Five years later, it is these families who give us hope."
Meanwhile, in Washington, members of the state's congressional delegation called on their colleagues to honor the victims by taking action to strengthen the nation's gun laws.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal spoke on the Senate floor.
"If nothing else is remembered of that day five years ago let us honor with action those strong and courageous families who have suffered this unspeakable horror and still unimaginable grief and who have come here in years past to ask us to honor with action," he said.
Blumenthal said Dec. 14, 2012, "will be forever a stain on our nation's history." But so will the day the Senate voted down legislation to expand gun background checks, he said.
Sen. Chris Murphy, speaking on the Senate floor in the afternoon, said: "It's easy to hang your head thinking of all the things that haven't happened."
But he focused his remarks on the many charities and foundations that have sprung up in memory of the 26 Sandy Hook victims and how the families in Newtown have coped.
"Watching the rebirth of these families instills a sense of faith in the human spirit that's hard to explain," he said.
Murphy said the mother of one of the Sandy Hook first-graders had visited his Senate office recently and told him to "keep going."
"For those of us who believe the laws of this country must change ... it's what we do," he said. "As we mark five years since the violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School, we keep going."
Earlier this week, Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., who was elected a month before the massacre, read the names of the Sandy Hook victims on the House floor.
