The children learn about the afterlife and about respect for the dead
The B.C. Catholic
COQUITLAM
Every November, Grade 7 students from Our Lady of Fatima Elementary School clean tombstones, learning lessons on mortality.
The trip is “our class service project, which is learning about the spiritual and corporal works of mercy as well as living life in the community of the Church,” said Nathalie Magel, the Grade 7 French immersion teacher. The trip helps the children learn about the afterlife and about respect for the dead.
“We prayed, cleaned tombstones … and will be going to confession for the indulgence for the souls in purgatory,” Magel said. This is the fourth year she has taken the Grade 7 classes to a graveyard, though this was the first time they had visited Robinson Memorial Cemetery.
In the other three years the students cleaned the grounds of the Gardens of Gethsemani “to help them as Catholic students understand about death and dying,” said Terry Whitely, the outreach coordinator of Catholic Cemeteries. “Their teacher ties in the Holy Souls, and why we pray for the dead during the month of November.”
The students would “clean all the graves of the veterans in preparation for the Nov. 11 service, where we have a Mass and a procession to the cenotaph,” Whitely said. “We ask them to remember one of the names they clean, and pray for them the entire month.”
This year the class learned a bit of history as well. “The groundskeeper taught us that the first people buried at the cemetery were French-Canadian Catholics from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, and pioneers from Our Lady of Fatima,” Magel noted. “Many names are still at our parish.”
“The kids were quite engaged in cleaning the tombstones, with some reflection on how long these people lived and how they were connected with the Coquitlam and Maillardville communities,” said Magel. “They took a lot of satisfaction in cleaning up dirty tombstones and making them look nice.”
The students themselves embraced the activity with zeal. “I thought the field trip was a good way for us to learn how to respect others,” said Carter, one of the students. It taught them “how precious our time is on earth.”
“I thought the field trip was a great experience,” recounted Kayla, another student. “I felt good knowing that I had done something good.”
Magel found the students took away some very important lessons for “growing in holiness, preparing for the gifts of confirmation, and understanding our relationship with God.”
