Cardinal Timothy Dolan celebrated All Souls’ Day Mass for hundreds of visitors to St. Raymond’s New Cemetery in the Bronx on November 2. Many used the opportunity to visit their departed relatives in what is one of the largest Catholic burial grounds in North America.

In his homily, the cardinal reflected on the significance of gathering to remember the faithful departed. “How beautiful it is that you would be here on this November 2 to reverently and gratefully remember the souls of the faithful departed, and to remind ourselves very tangibly of that truth of our Catholic faith that we call the Communion of Saints—that we’re one family, those of us here on Earth and those of us who have gone before us,” he said.

Referring to the beloved film “Field of Dreams,” the cardinal offered a poignant meditation on Catholic cemeteries as places of memory and hope. “I’ve always thought that our Catholic cemeteries are fields of dreams in two ways,” he explained. “First of all, when we visit them, we have dreams, we have memories of the people whose tombs, whose graves we visit. Our hearts are filled with love and reverence and gratitude as we pray at the graves of the people whom we loved and cherished in this life… But also, a cemetery is a field of dreams because it kindles within us the dream, the longing, the desire for life everlasting.”

Reflecting on the art of dying

The cardinal also shared a reflection on Michelangelo’s approach to his final years, connecting the Renaissance master’s work to the Christian understanding of preparing for death. “Michelangelo started that work when he was 80 years old, and he said in his own diary, ‘Ars moriendi’—that was the Latin, ars moriendi—’This will be for me practice in the art of dying, the art of dying.’ He had his own death in mind, and he did this for the honor and glory of God, out of love for the Church and for the salvation of souls. That was his way to prepare for death.”

The Mass also marked the blessing of the cemetery’s new Community Mausoleum. Groundbreaking for the Community Mausoleum took place on February 4. The mausoleum includes 310 single crypts, 62 double crypts in Westminster style, 44 single niches for cremated remains, and 10 double niches for companion cremated remains. On September 25, Conrad Pickel Studios installed “two mosaics illustrating the life of St. Joseph: one depicting him as protector and provider for the Holy Family, and another showing him as a carpenter, patron saint of workers, and earthly father to Jesus,” Cemetery Director Frank Mangual told The Good Newsroom by email. Construction was completed on October 31.

The cardinal thanked Father James Cruz, pastor of St. Raymond’s Church, which owns the cemetery, and who concelebrated the Mass. He also expressed gratitude for the beautiful weather, joking about a previous visit years ago when rain and mud had accompanied the celebration.