It is a blessing born from a curse.
Originating from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the little Bible has traveled across America for the past two decades, connecting strangers in both grief and hope.
Dennis McKenna acquired his treasured Bible while searching for survivors at Ground Zero in 2001 and has since lent it to people in their darkest hours, including the families of the Sandy Hook shooters and victims of the Aurora, Colorado, theater shooting.
As he searched through the rubble, a police chaplain visiting from California gave him a small Bible, now called the “9/11 First Responder Bible,” to use for strength and healing during the harrowing search effort.
“All of a sudden, a man in a black jacket and a white helmet sits next to me in the rubble and puts his arm around me, and I start crying,” McKenna, who was then an Immigration and Naturalization Service officer in New York, told The Post on Tuesday.
“He said, 'Son, I think you need me right now,' and he gave me a Bible.”
McKenna spent much of the next decade carrying a Bible in his vest, “that's how close I was to the Bible.”
It wasn't until the 2012 shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, that McKenna decided to temporarily step away from the Bible and bring spiritual healing to those who need it most: the victims of this American tragedy and their families.
“When the Aurora, Colorado shooting happened, I felt so powerless and in disbelief,” he said, recalling the mass shooting that left 12 people dead and more than 70 injured.
The well-worn Bible has since been used at the funerals of the eight children killed at Sandy Hook in Connecticut, as well as the four boys killed in Pennsylvania in 2017.
“This Bible isn't going to convert anybody or change anybody's faith,” said McKenna, 69. “It's just to reach out mentally and spiritually to people, to victims and their families.”
In 2015, the Bible was blessed by the Pope at Madison Square Garden. According to CBS12.
“I know it works because the feedback I get is exceptional,” said McKenna, who now lives in Jupiter, Fla. “After a tragedy, everyone wants to help at first, but after a week or two you feel alone. When you pick up a Bible, you don't feel so alone.”
McKenna points out that the Bible's spiritual foresight isn't its only calming power — it also contains testimonies from surviving family members and contact details for others to get in touch with.
The Bible journals always contain harrowing accounts of some of America's most horrific mass murders. Over the past 23 years, Bibles have been handed out to victims of mass shootings in Boulder, Colorado, and Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Bible was recently sent to the family of Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who was shot and killed in July during an assassination attempt by former President Donald Trump.
“I hold my breath every time I send this out. It's never a replacement,” McKenna said, “but people need this.”
McKenna told The Post that families usually find him by word of mouth or by contacting him directly — in one bizarre instance, grandparents whose grandchild was missing in a plane crash asked McKenna to hold a Bible over the phone while a pastor led them in prayer.
McKenna said the child was found less than an hour later.
“It's incredible how many people are feeling the energy that's been put into it,” he said.
“I don't physically react to disasters, but my heart and soul want to be there. It's natural,” McKenna added.
“So I found a way to get there through the Bible.”
