Catholic Cemeteries to mark All Saints, All Souls days

People who have lost loved ones over the last year or have not interred the cremated remains of a loved one have special opportunities for prayer and burying the dead this month through Catholic Cemeteries.

The archdiocesan ministry has offered those gatherings for several years to help mark All Saints Day on Nov. 1, a holy day of obligation, and All Souls Day on Nov. 2.

A new opportunity for community prayer also will be offered this year, at 6 p.m. on All Souls Day at St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery in Omaha. A walking rosary and Marian songs for all the souls in purgatory is being sponsored by the archdiocesan ministry, starting at the cemetery’s Rachel Mourning Statue and ending at the memorial statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego.  Luminaries will line the cemetery pathway. 

“I am looking for every possibility to help people with prayer,” said Deacon James Tardy, outreach manager at Catholic Cemeteries, who will lead the procession. “We are on the front lines here at the cemetery” as people grieve the death of a loved one.

“Why wouldn’t we do something that includes the Holy Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe?” he asked.

There is an opportunity from Nov. 1 through Nov. 8 to obtain a plenary indulgence for a soul in purgatory, through a visit to a Catholic cemetery, Deacon Tardy said. In addition to a cemetery visit, the faithful must go to confession, receive Communion on the day of the intended indulgence, and pray for the pope’s intentions. All attachment to sin, even venial sin, must be absent. A plenary indulgence removes all temporal punishment for sins, either in this life, or in purgatory.

Other opportunities offered by Catholic Cemeteries to pray for the deceased:

Catholic Cemeteries – CHI Health committal service, 11 a.m., Nov. 2. Held each fall and spring, interment of remains of unborn babies who died in CHI hospitals, at the mausoleum in St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery in Omaha.  

All Souls Interment, 11 a.m., Nov. 3. No-cost interment of cremated remains in the community crypt at the mausoleum in St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery. Arrive about 10:30 a.m. with the cremated remains of a loved one in a sealed container clearly labeled with the loved one’s name, date of birth and date of death. Contact Catholic Cemeteries at 402-391-3711 by Oct. 26 to participate.

Monthly Memorial Mass, 5 p.m. Nov. 5 and Dec. 3. At Holy Angels Mausoleum of Resurrection Cemetery in Omaha, celebrated for all those interred in the five Omaha Catholic cemeteries, which also include Calvary, Holy Sepulchre and St. Mary. Begins with a rosary Nov. 5, followed by prayers by name for loved ones who were interred in October, and loved ones interred one year ago in November; and Dec. 3 for those interred in November 2018 and in December 2017.