About 250 people spent a portion of their Sunday afternoon at seven of the Catholic cemeteries in the Diocese of Cleveland for the annual Walk to Remember.
The weather was perfect – sunny, blue skies and temperatures hovering near 80 degrees – for the event on Oct. 1. Locations were Nativity Mausoleum at All Saints Cemetery, Northfield; Mary Queen of Peace Mausoleum at All Souls Cemetery, Chardon; the main office at Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland; Sacred Heart Mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery, Akron; St. Jude Mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brook Park; the main office at Resurrection Cemetery, Valley City; and St. Joseph Mausoleum at St. Joseph Cemetery, Avon.
Rhonda Abrams, bereavement coordinator for the Catholic Cemeteries Association, said participants either could walk a half-mile loop in the cemetery or stay in the office or mausoleum and pray the rosary in remembrance of their deceased loved ones.
(See photo gallery above.)
In addition, people were invited to post the names of their loved ones on the cemeteries association’s Remembrance Wall. Abrams said originally, the plan was to keep the names posted during the month of October, which is the month of the most holy rosary. However, they decided to honor them by leaving the names posted all year so additional prayers could be offered.
Colleen Stecker was the point person for the Walk to Remember at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brook Park. Although retired, Stecker said she helps at the event each year because she understands how important the walk and prayers are for the participants.
“People love this event and some come back every year,” she said, noting some remember loved ones who died recently, while others pray for those lost over the years.
Stecker led about 75 people on a short loop through part of the cemetery near the St. Jude Mausoleum as they recited the rosary before returning to the mausoleum, where closing prayers were said.
A small group stayed in the mausoleum to pray with Rosary Martino, also a retired cemeteries’ association employee. She said she appreciates the importance of the walk and has volunteered for the event each year since it began.
After the walk, participants received a gift bag that included cemeteries association resources, literature and a votive candle.
The next major event hosted by the cemeteries association is Cemetery Sunday, scheduled for 3 p.m. Nov. 5. Mass will be celebrated on the cemetery grounds as a spiritual way to honor deceased family members who are buried in a Catholic cemetery.
Abrams said locations for this year’s Cemetery Sunday Masses would be announced soon.
For more information on Cemetery Sunday, email rabrams@clecem.org or call 216-930-4866. Click here for information on the Catholic Cemeteries Association, Diocese of Cleveland.