Hundreds of people, many of them holding flowers and candles, joined a pair of vigils in Boston last night to honor victims of the marathon bombing. In Boston Common, dozens of National Guard troops stood watch over a vigil where the crowd joined in as a choir sung "Amazing Grace" and the "Star-Spangled Banner," the Boston Herald reports. Cloth banners bore messages including "We are Boston strong" and "Love destroys hate." In the Dorchester neighborhood, home of 8-year-old victim Martin Richard, hundreds more gathered for a tearful vigil where a parish priest described the boy as a "beautiful and gentle soul," reports USA Today. (More Boston Marathon stories.)