AS the tears of thousands fall on the second anniversary of September 11 two Ipswich brothers were being remembered in the prayers of their loved ones.

AS the tears of thousands fall on the second anniversary of September 11 two Ipswich brothers were being remembered in the prayers of their loved ones.

Andrew and Timothy Gilbert were among those who perished in the World Trade Center when two aircraft rammed the north and south towers.

The former St Joseph's College pupils were working as bankers in New York for money market firm Cantor Fitzgerald when they were killed.

Throughout today their co-workers, former Suffolk school and family church in Ipswich were due to offer up prayers for their souls.

Family and friends were expected to attend a 30 minute mass dedicated to their memory at St Pancras Roman Catholic Church in Tacket St, in Ipswich.

"The mass is at 12.15pm and is being offered for the two lads," said Father Francis Leeder, the priest who will be taking the service. "We will be praying for them.

Father Leeder said over the past two years he and his parish have tried to provide strength, comfort and solace to Andrew and Timothy Gilbert's family who still live in Henley Road, Ipswich.

"We have done our best," he said. "The family will have to work through the process of grief in their own way. I think they know we are behind them and support them."

Thoughts of Andrew, 39, and Timothy, 36, were also uppermost in the minds of the pupils and staff at St Joseph's College who were due to pay their own silent tributes during their weekly assembly. In time they will also be installing a more permanent reminder of Andrew and Timothy's loss.

"We are going to be lighting candles to those that lost their lives to terrorism," said a spokeswoman. "In the future we will be planting a tree as a memorial to Andrew and Timothy and the families who have suffered."

The brothers were among 19 British employees who lost their lives while working between the 101st and 105th floor of the World Trade Centre for Cantor Fitzgerald. The global financial company lost a total of 658 workers in the Al Qaida attack.

Today staff were battling to contain their emotions as they remembered the friends and colleagues they lost.

"There will be one minute's silence at 1.46pm to mark when the first aircraft hit the north tower," said Timo Kindred, a spokesman for the company. "Just before the minute's silence chief executive officer Lee Amaitis will be say a few words of remembrance. At 3.29pm there will be another minute's silence to mark the time when the tower collapsed."

Mr Kindred added that all commissions earned by workers today will go to the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund set up to help the families of Cantor employees who died.