Blessing of the Graves ceremony takes leap online for Covid era
IT HAS become so much a part of Irish life that every village and town across the country sets aside a Blessing of the Graves day each year to honour those who are no longer with us.
And even though the ritual has been postponed or cancelled in many parishes because of Covid-19 restrictions, priests in Galway have come up with an innovative alternative that not only complies with public safety requirements but one that will also allow thousands of people to take part in the ceremony.
Over the past few Sundays, the Blessing of the Graves has been livestreamed and also broadcast on Galway Bay FM, so that mourners who would normally be in attendance at the graveyard can pay their annual respects.
The next such event takes place on September 13 in Rahoon cemetery, while thousands of people from all over the world tuned into a live streaming of the Blessings of the Graves from Galway city’s landmark graveyard Bohermore.
The ceremony included a Mass said by the local Catholic Bishop Brendan Kelly from the graveyard.
Galway Diocese communications officer Fr Diarmuid Hogan said of the event: ‘The reaction was extremely positive, and people were very grateful.
‘People need reassurance that
‘Brides would leave a bouquet on the grave’
they are doing the right thing by those who have gone before us and who have had harder times than we have.’
Fr Hogan added: ‘We are a nation whose history is one of sadness, disappointment and letting go, and the Blessing of the Graves is not only for the people in the graveyard but it goes much deeper than that. We know the pain of loss.
‘Bohermore is a central part of Galway city and even though it has been there for a hundred years it’s still called the new cemetery. If you spent an afternoon walking around there you would get more of a sense of the history and tragedy of the city than if you walked down Shop Street.
‘Unlike other cities where the graveyard can be a little outside of the town, Bohermore is within walking distance. It’s not a car journey away and Galway city people go there to say hello to the family on their way to a Holy Communion or Confirmation celebration.
‘Brides and grooms go there on their way to the reception of their wedding and I have known of brides that would leave their bouquet on the grave of their relative.
‘So many people felt isolated, neglected and sometimes forgotten during the Covid lockdown and the church has found new ways of connecting with people.’
He added: ‘I think people are relieved that the Blessing of the Graves is happening. They feel that they will have done their duty despite the pandemic.
‘They will feel that they have done what they are supposed to do and that they will not have let their dead down. In Ireland there is a belief that the dead have gone no further than the door and that they are here with us. It is vital for people that the Mass is said in the graveyard. It would not be the same if it was said in a studio.
‘During the lockdown people could not go to Bohermore because it was closed so I think this is the yang to the lockdown ying… there was the pain of not being able to go to visit a grave in Bohermore but with the Blessing of the Graves people can honour their dead.
‘I think people are afraid that their dead would be forgotten and that their grief would be forgotten during Covid.’
For the 16 weeks during the pandemic lockdown when all churches were closed, Fr Hogan said Mass each Sunday in a studio at Galway Bay FM radio station.
Fr Hogan said normally about 500 people would go to
Bohermore for the Blessing of the Graves, but that this year thousands tuned into the radio and watched online.
And his online congregation not only included parishioners from his own parish of Oranmore but also several thousand more from across the world.
Fr Hogan recalled: ‘I know one family used to drive in their car and park outside the church in Oranmore and then listen to the Mass on the radio.
‘A young boy who serves Mass would listen to the Mass in his kitchen with his family and ring the bell at the right time. And there were people in Miami listening to the Mass and Irish people working at the European Central Bank. It developed a life of its own and I think people felt extraordinarily connected because we were talking about Galway things.’
■ The Blessing of the Graves at Rahoon will be streamed at 11am on September 13 and broadcast on Galway Bay FM.
‘This is a yang to the lockdown ying’