Parishioners host candlelit tours of their graveyard to highlight holy men and women.
On a dark if not stormy night just hours before Halloween, whistling past a graveyard might chase away scary feelings. But visitors to Sacred Heart Cemetery in Winchester Oct. 30 couldn’t wait to get inside the gates of the Catholic burial ground.
For the first time, Sacred Heart of Jesus Church held a candlelit tour of its cemetery that dates to the late 19th century. But it wasn’t ghosts and zombies the guests expected to see; they came for an encounter with the saints.
Actors dressed as saints told stories of faith and martyrdom, while reminding listeners of the doctrinal reality of heaven, hell and purgatory. A fog machine, Gregorian chant soundtrack, pumpkins carved with Catholic images, and dozens of glowing votive candles added to the atmosphere. Prayers for the dead were recited along the tour route.
“We have a cemetery with an amazing history,” said organizer Laura Ricketts, parish coordinator of marriage and family ministry. “What better way to incorporate learning about some of the history of Catholics here in Winchester, praying for our beloved dead in the cemetery and engaging with the saints who will show up along the way?”
First to appear was St. Denis, portrayed by Joe Herter and Ben Ricketts, cradling his head, separated from his person by a Roman governor. His saintly companions, stationed throughout the cemetery, included St. Maria Goretti (Amy Angulo), St. Lucy (Clara Angulo), St. John Bosco (Ralph Beam Sr.), St. José Sánchez del Rio (Ralph Beam Jr.), St. Thomas More (Gabriel Ricketts), and St. Tarcisius (Noah Ricketts). Each was interpreted by members of the parish youth group, homeschool community and volunteers, who recited their stirring tales from memory.
Amy Angulo, 17, initially considered depicting St. Teresa of Avila, but St. Maria Goretti won out “because I connect more with her story.” Her sister Clara Angulo, 9, chose St. Lucy because “she’s the patron saint of people with eye diseases, and my little sister was born with an eye disease.”
Visitors were delighted with their pre-Halloween pilgrimage to Sacred Heart Cemetery.
“It was fantastic,” said parishioner Terri Dean. “I was able to learn a little bit about some of the saints that I’m not exactly familiar with.” Luke Cassidy agreed. “It was so nice to hear the lives of some of the saints and how they lived their faith,” he said. “It was a great example.”
“The veil that separates us from the church suffering and the church triumphant is so very thin,” said Ricketts. “We’re hoping, in our own way, to sort of help our parishioners see beyond that veil a little bit through this experience.”
Ricketts credited Father Björn Lundberg, pastor, for his support of the project. He is “incredibly creative, always trying to figure out how to engage the culture and reclaim all of these holidays and holy days that were Catholic in origin.”
The Catholic beginnings of Halloween lie in All Hallows’ Eve, the evening vigil of All Saints Day. Once a spring celebration, All Saints was transferred to Nov. 1 by Pope Gregory III (731–741). By the 840s, Pope Gregory IV decreed a universal celebration. All Souls’ Day dates to 998, when St. Odilo added a Nov. 2 observance to pray for departed souls. The practice spread from France across Europe.
Dressing up is traced to the Medieval Catholic French “danse macabre,” an All Souls’ Day procession of costumed citizenry depicting every societal rank, with the visible message that death — particularly the plague — didn’t discriminate.
And asking for candy? The contemporary ritual of trick-or-treating began as “souling,” when medieval English children would go from house to house requesting alms in the form of pastries (“soul cakes”). In return, they would promise to pray for the deceased souls of the residence.
And the secular appropriation of Halloween?
“We should reclaim it,” Ricketts declared. “This is part of our heritage; this is part of our history as Catholics. I think it’s wonderful to be able to say, ‘This belongs to us; this is how we do it.’ ”
In addition to the cemetery tour, other seasonal activities at Sacred Heart included a Saturday Trunk or Treat and an All Hallows Eve bonfire with a chili potluck, games, pumpkin sling shots, and more costumed trunk or treating. The All Saints Day 8:15 a.m. Mass Nov. 1 features a saints procession of parish children dressed as their favorite holy person, and All Souls’ Day Masses Nov. 2 complete the events.
Heatherington is a freelancer in Alexandria.
