Catholic cemetery offers alternative to trick or treating

SURREY—As stores stock shelves with plastic skeletons and false tombstones, a local Catholic cemetery is hoping to remind communities of the true meaning of All Hallows Eve.

“We’re called to pray for holy souls,” said Peter Nobes, the director of Catholic Cemeteries. “It’s an important part of our faith. Instead of trick or treating, come pray.”

While many parents will be helping children into costumes or giving away candy Oct. 31, many others will head to Catholic Cemeteries’ Gardens of Gethsemani for a candlelit prayer vigil. Outreach and community coordinator Terry Whiteley said far from being spooky, the evening at the cemetery, their third annual, is a peaceful time for families to pray for loved ones.

“It’s really amazing. People will pray for different family members who have gone to rest or who are living and having a difficult time,” she said.

Participants will take part in a short service in the cemetery chapel, then grab candles and walk together around the grounds, stopping to pray at the statues of St. Joseph, St. Anthony, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and St. Andrew Kim.

It’s a fitting way for Catholics to celebrate All Hallows Eve, the vigil of All Saints Day, said Whiteley.

“People miss that. They focus on All Saints or All Souls Day. We’ve been trying over the years to make sure people realize it all begins on All Hallows Eve. It’s a very special night.”

The candlelit service is the start of three days of devotion at the cemetery. On All Saints Day, Wednesday, Nov. 1, Gardens of Gethsemani will host Mass in Korean at 10:30 a.m. and English at 7 p.m.

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, will join All Souls Day celebrations, Tuesday, Nov. 2, with Mass at 6:30 p.m.

“We need to communicate to the community that life is changed, not ended, and that gives us great hope,” said Nobes. “Death shouldn’t be something to be feared and provide terrible anxiety. Death is a passage.”

His staff are gearing up to host several more events throughout November, the “month of holy souls,” including a Remembrance Day celebration Nov. 11, a free burial for cremated remains Nov. 25, and their increasingly popular monthly Mass of Remembrance Nov. 29.

Catholic Cemeteries has also distributed 200 lesson plans for Grades 7-12 and reprinted hundreds of prayer books (first released last year). They've also had 300 people sign up for daily emails, all on the themes of praying for the sick, the dying, the deceased, and the grieving.

Whiteley said it’s the cemeteries' mission “to connect people to people and to build the community in faith.”