Tombs blessed at St. Patrick cemeteries on All Saints’ Day

Above: Dominican Father Augustine DeArmond was among the local clergy who fanned out over New Orleans’ Catholic cemeteries to bless tombs on the Nov. 1 solemnity of All Saints. To view additional photos, please visit the Clarion Herald’s Facebook page. (Photos by Beth Donze, Clarion Herald)

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

On a picture-perfect afternoon, Father Augustine DeArmond, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church in New Orleans and syndic of the Southern Dominican Province, made the short walk from his Mid-City church to lead the All Saints’ Day Blessing of Tombs at St. Patrick Cemetery Nos. 1, 2 and 3.

At the beginning prayer service inside the gates of St. Patrick Cemetery No. 3 on City Park Avenue, the refrain for the Responsorial Psalm was “My soul has hope for the Lord.” As the Litany of Saints was read by Father DeArmond, the faithful were asked to respond “Pray for them” – rather than “Pray for us” – a reminder that on Nov. 1, Catholics pray for all saints, known and unknown, whose earthly journeys have ended.

After the prayer service, Father DeArmond, assisted by St. Anthony of Padua altar server Perry Dolce, sprinkled holy water on tombs inside all three St. Patrick cemeteries, which occupy a parcel of land stretching around and across the intersection of City Park Avenue and Canal Street.

The St. Patrick cemeteries were established in 1841 by the parish founders of St. Patrick Church in the CBD. Catholic Irish immigrants founded St. Patrick Parish in 1833, initially worshiping out of a small wood-frame church located at the site of the current, 1840-built landmark church at 724 Camp St.

St. Patrick’s founding parishioners purchased the land for the St. Patrick cemeteries on the naturally high ground of Metairie Ridge in 1841, obtaining permission from the city of New Orleans to establish a cemetery there.

Prominent features include early 20th-century bronze stations of the cross statues installed across all three cemeteries; a Pietà statue in St. Patrick Cemetery No. 2; and a statue of St. Patrick himself – snakes at his feet and holding a shamrock and his gold crozier – at the entrance of St. Patrick Cemetery No. 3.

Recent additions to the St. Patrick cemeteries include the Holy Innocents Prayer Garden in St. Patrick Cemetery No. 1, dedicated in 2018 for parents who have lost an unborn child through abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth; and the Queen of All Saints Cremation Garden in St. Patrick Cemetery No. 3, which was dedicated in 2019. Queen of All Saints contains 630 single and double niches for the interment of cremated remains within a half-acre of garden space.