I heard the most amazing speech this morning in the most trying of times.

So many things I've been thinking about were coalesced.

Deval Patrick, speaking in the aftermath of a tragedy that shakes us to our core, becomes a messenger of unity so strong that it evens transcends religion.

"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."

- Text of Governor Deval Patrick's speech at the interfaith memorial ... from Boston.com for full text.