Cemetery:
A Sacred Place
To a Catholic, a cemetery is a sacred place. Next to the
church, no spot on earth should be so hallowed and dear to a Parish. Ever since
the Sacred Body of our Crucified Savior was reverently laid in a tomb, there to
await the hour of its glorious resurrection, the Church has been most solicitous
to cast about the burial of those who rise with Christ an atmosphere of deep
Christian faith and profound reverence. In the cemetery are buried the mortal
remains of the faithful departed, consecrated as temples of the Holy Ghost with
the holy oils of the Sacraments. The cemetery speaks to a Christian of faith and
hope in the resurrection of the body. Sensing the deep meaning of burial
grounds, the faithful have called their cemetery significantly, "God's Acre."
From his sacred soil shall come forth unto life eternal the bodies of the
faithful who have departed this life in the Lord. Every Parish and Mission
should be proud to possess a cemetery. (Fargo Diocesan Synodal Statutes #740).
The Church is to have its own cemeteries wherever this can be done, or at least
spaces in civil cemeteries destined for the faithful departed and properly
blessed (Canon 1240).
If a parish has its own cemetery, the faithful departed are to be interred in it
unless another cemetery has been legitimately chosen either by the departed
person or by those who are responsible to arrange for his or her interment
(Canon 1180).
Catholics, first by law and then by tradition, have chosen to be buried in
Catholic cemeteries. In this way, Catholics
have the assurance that reverence and respect will be given to the remains of
the deceased. Also, the Catholic cemetery, in reflecting the doctrines and
liturgy of Catholic belief, maintains now in death the community of faith that
was shared in life. Furthermore, the Catholic cemetery is a place of devotion
and prayer for the souls of the departed.
From the earliest days of the Church, it is evident that cemeteries were
exclusive places, held in veneration. Cemeteries were considered sacred places, too, for the dead had
been strengthened by the Sacraments, especially by Christ's Body and Blood; they
had been temples of the Holy Spirit, and they would one day rise to be united
with Christ forever.
A visit to a cemetery stirs salutary thoughts of our own mortality, our debt to
those who have gone before, the shortness of life, and the fullness of eternity.
We are the people who accept death but believe in life, who believe that we are
sons and daughters of the God with whom there is no death. "Vivas," "May you
live." Today that is still the spirit with which we should bury our dead. "May
you live in Christ, live in the fullness of life which Jesus promised." A
Catholic cemetery, and many of our pious practices, are sacramentals. They are
signs which express and deepen our faith in the living God.
PLENARY INDULGENCE:
Each day that a person visits a cemetery from November 1 to 8, that person may
gain a Plenary Indulgence (Enchiridion of Indulgences, 1986, No. 13).
reasons for denial of ecclesiastical funeral rites:
Unless they have given some signs of
repentance before their death, the following are to be deprived of
ecclesiastical funeral rites:
~ Notorious apostates, heretics, and schismatics;
~ Persons who had chosen the cremation of their own bodies for
reasons opposed to the Christian faith;
~ Other manifest sinners for whom ecclesiastical funeral rites cannot
be granted without public scandal to the faithful (Canon 1184.1).
RELIGIOUS SERVICES IN A CATHOLIC CEMETERY
Catholic cemeteries as well as Catholic churches are sacred places. They
are to be dedicated according to the ceremony that liturgical books
prescribe for this purpose (Canon 1205). If there is a cemetery chapel,
it is not uncommon to have the Eucharist celebrated on a regular basis
beyond funerals. On special occasions, Mass may be celebrated outdoors,
e.g., Memorial Day, All Souls Day.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Diocesan Director of Cemeteries
5201 Bishops Blvd, Suite A, Fargo, ND 58104
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