Bangor, Mash and Freddie see all kinds of things pass through the Presbytery - all life is here. After the happiness of my anniversary yesterday, today i conducted my first simple grave-side funeral made necessary by the present problems.
The first strange thing is a No Entry sign at the gates of Thornhill Cemetery. Fr Andy and I were waved through, but funerals are reduced to no more than about 10 people at the moment. As there are no church services allowed, we have to kind of fit things like Intercessions into the brief time at the graveside. After a few minutes a slight drizzle started, just to really set the scene, and then the little funeral party arrived, Mum, Dad, brothers and sisters and girlfriend. The funeral directors asked if it was alright that they lowered the coffin straightaway as it was "regulations " now. No time even to bless the grave first, so I had to re-jig the order of the little service...
We did our best to give dignity and warmth to the proceedings, and hopefully the bereaved were able to take some solace from the prayers etc. But from my point of view as priest, this is one of the saddest consequences of the whole virus thing. A mother and father, family and partner who cannot bring their lad to church for the embrace of the Lord and his Church, the consolation of what are for me some of the most beautiful prayers of our Catholic liturgy... all missing.
Before we parted I reminded them - and myself - of next week. We will journey, yes to Calvary, but then the light of Easter will shine in our darkness. Lord, grant peace to Ryan and to those who suffer and die during this epidemic. Move in your peace among the bereaved and among us all. Bring us all safely to Easter.
Thanks for sharing your reflections Canon. It is hard to picture the scene, so your description is a big help. I noticed online yesterday that they have looked the gates of Pantmawr and Western Cemetery as well as having a no entry policy at Thornhill, a strange thought.
ReplyDeleteCanon Isaac had a funeral yesterday too, at Pantmawr, a family who had put a big effort into arranging a Mass for their mother in Cardiff, where her husband is buried, had to travel all the way down from Southport, where she lived, to a short service beside the grave, rather than the Mass they had planned. Hard times!