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NORTON - Beth Cann loved her church. And Tuesday evening, her church showed how much it loved her.

Hundreds of people of all ages gathered at Trinitarian Congregational Church, where a candlelight vigil was held to pray for Cann and her two daughters, Danielle, 15, and Brittany, 12, all three the victims of a horiffic shooting committed by Cann's estranged boyfriend sometime on Sunday or Monday.

The two girls remained in critical condition at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence late Tuesday night. There, inside the hospital's intensive care unit, the sisters were side by side in two hospital beds, surrounded by a team of doctors. An investigator described their condition as "guarded."

Danielle and Brittany were being watched over by their father, Beth Cann's former husband, Wayne Cann of Easton - who first discovered them inside the family home at 384 Reservoir St. - and their older sister, 17-year-old Amanda, who was in Florida at the time of the shootings.

The family was said to be devastated. "They're having a tough time," said Norton Police Detective Sgt. Brian Clark, who has spoken with the family.

In Norton, residents described a painful mixture of grief, hope, and shock as they struggled to understand a brutal crime committed against a gentle woman and her beloved daughters, and deal with the unwelcome notoriety it has brought here.

The shades were drawn Tuesday at the Cann home on Reservoir Street, though an air-conditioner hummed in a first floor window. No police were present, unlike the day before.

Throughout the day, however, people stopped by, many of them teenagers. Often, they simply stared at the house. Some left flowers. In the driveway there was a makeshift memorial of candles, teddy bears and construction-paper cards signed in a child's handwriting, all left from an impromptu vigil the night before.

By 7 p.m. Tuesday, when the candlelight observance began, every parking space near Trinitarian Church was taken, and cars lined surrounding streets.

Many of those at the service were teenagers, some of whom had ditched their bicycles by the side of the road before hurrying into the chapel. Football players from Norton High School, where Danielle was to start her junior year next Wednesday, wore their Lancers jerseys.

School Superintendent Patricia Ansay said many of her teachers were deeply upset - some had already received homeroom lists with the two girls' names on them. But, she said, it is especially difficult to explain such senseless violence to young people.

"It's hard to get the kids to understand why bad things happen to good people," Ansay said.

Nearby, a mother leaned down and spoke softly to her two young children, as they fixed their gaze on the candles burning in their small hands.

The church was filled to overflowing. Every available spot was taken, whether in the balcony or in the pews, and more people spilled out into the parking lot and onto the front lawn. Estimates of the crowd ranged from 500 to 1,000. "I've never seen a turnout like this," said Alice Baker, a Norton resident who has worshipped at Trinitarian for 75 years. "This is overwhelming."

Friends of Danielle's handed out purple ribbons, to show solidarity with victims of domestic violence. Each person held an unlit candle.

About 7:45, the candles were lit one by one, lending a warm glow to the inside and outside of the church. It was a mild night, and the air was still. Many people wept quietly.

After the service ended, people lingered on the grass outside Trinitarian. By all accounts, it was a place that Beth Cann loved dearly.

Cann volunteered her time and energy, working with the youth group, organizing decorations for the holiday fair and helping to plan fundraisers. Just a few weeks ago, Cann organized an event at the church where she screened a DVD based on "The Secret," a popular book about the power of positive thinking.

"She helped me," recalled Cann's fellow parishioner, Linnea Schroeder. "She was a 'doer.' "

After being told that everyone had described her late friend as friendly, kind, and unassuming, Schroeder smiled sadly and said, "It's easy to say such things about Beth. She was a very loving person."

"The word I would use to describe her is 'genuine.' That captures her," said another friend, Lori Baker, as Schroeder nodded her head.

Baker, who had looked after Canns' daughters at her day care center, said Cann was a devoted mother who loved her daughters dearly.

"She was a very good mother," Baker said simply.

"She was love times four," Schroeder added.

Many people said they were praying especially for Danielle and Brittany, desperately hoping for good news about the two sisters.

Both were described as sweet and well behaved.

Brittany performed on stage in a Norton Youth Theatre production only a few months ago. One woman whose daughter is friendly with Brittany described her as "very outgoing," and remembered her inviting her daughter over to pick pinecones and make peanut butter sandwiches.

Laughing, Lori Baker said Brittany had once admitted to having a crush on her young son.

All three women said they were thrilled and astonished by the size of the gathering at Trinitarian on Tuesday night, glad to see Beth Cann receiving the outpouring of love at a place to which she gave so much of her own.

"This would be so gratifying to her - to see so many people," Lori Baker said.