…that no flowers be planted on my grave & that no man remember me. Hardy
A disturbing yet sadly revealing eyewitness report from out West has come to the Readers’ attention: the gravesite of Fr. Leblanc appears to be in a sorry condition. Lying only a few footsteps away from the tenants’ residence and within walking distance of the church, the final resting place for the mortal remains of a holy priest is said to be overrun with weeds and disfigured by overgrown grass.
Burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy, and by extension so is the seemly care and solicitous upkeep of burial places. Catholic cemeteries have long had endowed funds for the continued and habitual Christian care of graves. Even the Novus Ordo recognizes that burial grounds should be hallowed places of comfort, reverence, and prayerful devotion to the remembrance of the faithful departed. Moreover, as the Novus Ordo ever affirms, the care for beauty of sacred grounds is an affirmation of the Church’s hope in the Resurrection.
Why must simple pietas, “the attitude of dutiful respect towards those to whom one is bound by ties of religion “ (Glare), be absent in a traditional Catholic community? Why, if the report be accurate, don’t any traditional religious or clergy perform this small corporal work of mercy for a deceased priest? Surely Fr. Leblanc’s efforts to build and endow the lovely chapel must have warranted some small perpetual care burse. Surely the current property tenants could spare, in their charity, a half hour (or even less) weekly to assure that Father’s grave is a place of serenity, beauty, decency, and loving, respectful attention.
Perhaps it wasn't in the contract.
Fortunately, by this writing, we trust that a pious Catholic lay person will have stepped in to remedy the scandal.
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