The Arimathean - Easter 2024

The ArimATheAn

From the Director

� emeterians in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester:

Welcome to the inaugural edition of “The Arimathean”: A Diocese of Winona-Rochester Catholic Cemetery Newsletter serving those who minster in the corporal work of mercy to bury the dead.

“The Arimathean” seeks to evangelize, catechize, communicate, offer practical guidance and inspiration to those who serve in the Corporal Work of Mercy to Bury the Dead in the Diocese of Winona Rochester.

Editions of “The Arimathean” will include an array of topics relevant to the work of burying the dead. It is intended to serve as resource to the staff and many volunteers that contribute their time and share their

The Burial of Jesus

John 19:38-42

ldose@dowr.org

faith in this often-hidden ministry. Suggestions, articles, questions, related topics and reflections are welcome and encouraged. Please email your input to: LDose@DOWR.org

My gratitude to all those who dedicate themselves to serving in this ministry.

Peace and All Good.

USCCB Guidelines Regarding Flameless Cremation & Human Composting

� he United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) doctrine committee evaluated the two most prominent newer methods for disposition of bodily remains that are proposed as alternatives to burial and cremation - alkaline hydrolysis [also known as: Flameless Cremation, Resomation, Biocremation] and human composting - and concluded that they: fail to satisfy the Church’s requirements for proper respect for the bodies of the dead.

• After the alkaline hydrolysis process, there are about 100 gallons of liquid into which the greater part of the body has been dissolved and this liquid is treated as wastewater.

• At the end of the human composting process, the body has completely decomposed along with accompanying plant matter to yield a single mass of compost, with nothing distinguishably left of the body to be laid to rest in a sacred place.

Catholic faith teaches us that our ultimate destiny as human beings includes our bodiliness:

We are therefore obliged to respect our bodily existence throughout our lives and to respect the bodies of the deceased when their earthly lives have come to an end. The way that we treat the bodies of our beloved

Guidelines, cont’d on pg. 5

38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body.

39 Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds.

40 They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.

41 Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.

42 So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by.

Lawrence (Larry) J. Dose, MBA CCCE Director of Catholic Cemeteries

Catholic Cemetery Spotlight: St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery

Elba, MN - Established 1872

Submitted by ST. ALOYSIUS CATHOLIC CEMETERY ASSOCIATION

�aint Aloysius Catholic Cemetery, nestled in the picturesque Whitewater Valley, stands as a beautiful and serene final resting place for our departed family, relatives, and friends. The origins of this sacred ground trace back to 1872 when the Diocese of St. Paul of Minnesota, under the leadership of Bishop Joseph Cretin, acquired the land from Archibald and Mary Montgomery. A significant milestone followed in 1877 with the construction of the first Catholic Church adjacent to the cemetery. Subsequent changes in ownership, facilitated by Bishop Patrick Heffron, saw the Diocese of Winona and later, St. Aloysius Catholic Church, taking ownership of the site.

Comprising 8 acres, with 2 acres specifically designated for burials. Thus far, St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery has had 665 recorded burials. The stewardship of this sacred space falls under the dedicated oversight of the St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery Association, established in 1952. The Association trustees at that time were; Bishop Edward Fitzgerald, Father Edward Klein, Gregory Kramer, and Leo Mueller. The St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery Association continues to actively manage, operate and maintain the cemetery.

While the cemetery stands as a testament to loved ones gone before us, it has not been without challenges. Encroachments by private landowners necessitated legal intervention, resulting in the sale of small parcels of land. The closure of St. Aloysius Catholic Church, merger with St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church at St. Charles and varying pastoral guidance posed additional hurdles. At times, monuments have not been placed within a year of burial. Other challenges run the gamut from individuals not abiding by the posted

regulations, i.e. food is not to be left at gravesites, etc., to folks not completing transfer forms and/or multiple interment forms in a timely manner prior to a burial Addressing these challenges has required ongoing vigilance and collaboration.

Over the past five years, the St. Aloysius Cemetery Association has undertaken several projects to enhance the cemetery’s infrastructure and aesthetics. The private part of the road into the cemetery was modified to allow cemetery access only. Property boundaries have been defined and fences installed on the boundaries. A hillside was cleared, trees trimmed and new trees planted. New siding, an overhead door and roofing were installed on the storage shed. Concrete pads were installed to mark the beginning and ending of rows to help in marking for burials. New concrete bases have been installed under more than 50 small monuments and about 20 larger monuments have been straightened. A water tank was installed and provides water for the summer months. Handrails were installed to make it easier for people to access the cemetery.

Noteworthy accomplishments include a successful fundraising cam-

paign in 2015, resulting in the replacement of the altar and wall built in 1939. In 2015, letters were sent to 350 potential donors. The fundraising effort was successful due to the generosity of the family members of people buried in the cemetery, people who had purchased burial plots and parish members. The new stone wall supports the crucifix and angels which were part of the original wall. In 2021, a monument for the unborn and those buried in unmarked graves was erected. In 2022, a kiosk was erected in order to aid in the location of graves and which also displays the cemetery regulations, a map of the cemetery and a list of the burials in alphabetical order. The kiosk was placed in memory of James and Alice Hendrickson whose donation from their estate made the project possible. Additionally, information about St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery can be found on the website for St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church. This includes the regulations, grave locations and a map.

The trustees of St Aloysius Catholic Cemetery, alongside two other dedicated volunteers, continue their tireless efforts maintaining the cemetery These four people donate St. Aloysius, cont’d on pg. 5

Jewish Burial Traditions Part I

By DAMIAN LENSHEK

�or as long as I’ve worked in Catholic cemeteries, I have sought to understand everything about Catholic burial traditions – how they express the Catholic faith, and how burial practices and customs have varied from place to place and century to century, both within the Catholic Church and across cultures. I am interested in what is essential as well as what can vary depending on culture and context. For a starting point and exemplar of Catholic burial, I look to the burial of Jesus on Good Friday. And Jesus, whom Catholics acknowledge to be fully God and fully man, was also fully Jewish. He lived, died, and was buried as a Jew. And so in an important way, Catholic burial traditions find their origin in, and grow out of, Jewish burial practices.

Growth means there are differences, of course. The Christian understanding of the human person builds on observations from nature and the revelation of the Old Testament. But distinctive beliefs – especially the Incarnation and the Resurrection –inform the Christian understanding of human being in a way shared by no other religion. Nevertheless, an understanding of the Jewish view of burial can illuminate parts of the Catholic tradition.

Pope Saint John Paul II called the Jews “our elder brothers in the faith of Abraham.” So after learning of the existence of a Jewish burial society called chevra kadisha, I sought out one of my “elder brothers” who has a particular expertise in the Jewish burial tradition. Rabbi Elchonon Zohn is the Director of Chevra Kadisha, Vaad Harabonim of Queens and Founding President of The National Association of Chevra Kadisha (NASCK).

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity, and will appear in two parts.

Damian Lenshek: For a Catholic audience unfamiliar with the chevra kadisha, can you give a little introduction?

Rabbi Zohn: Sure. The chevra kadisha actually means “holy society” or “sacred society.” It is the name that is given to the group of people who are responsible to arrange for burial of anyone in the community who dies.

Every community has to have a chevra kadisha. A community could really not function as a Jewish community, traditionally, if there was no chevra kadisha. Jewish law requires burial immediately. And so while you can have a Jewish community without a caterer - most events take some time, whether it’s a wedding or even a circumcision - we’ve got eight days until we circumcise. So there’s always time to find the caterer. Same with the musician and the flower arranger. It’s the burial that must be in place. So every community had to have a sacred burial ground, and a group to do this. This was generally staffed by people who were prominent in the community.

Burial was seen as a great act of kindness. Generally, there was no real gain financially or any other way for the people involved. The organization itself very often had people donating to it because they needed to purchase grounds, maintain the grounds, and so on.

But the people involved consider this as a chesed, which means an act of kindness, and the kindness provided by this group is actually given a very specific name: chesed shel emet which is “true kindness” or “the truest of kindness,” because there is no reciprocation. The people who received this act of kindness are never going to give back to the people who take care of them, right?

There is an important concept in Judaism, which is that when a person dies, it is not the obligation of the family specifically to care for them. It is actually a communal responsibility. Everyone in the community needs to get involved and make sure that burial takes place.

However, where a chevra kadisha exists, it removes that responsibility from the community and they take that burden upon themselves. And so that is how the chevra kadisha operates.

Damian Lenshek: And so some donors to the chevra kadisha can participate in that way.

Rabbi Zohn: Right. However, the chevra kadisha in modern American culture is really a little bit different than it was initially. Right now we work with funeral homes as well. Many of the chevra kadisha today really exist for the purpose of preparing the body. That’s all they do.

Some of them will also prepare the home for the family, and provide for the shiva, which is the mourning period. So they will bring the food for the mourning period. They will set up the homes so that the family need not leave. And they will make sure there’s enough seating and things for people who may want to visit.

In some communities the chevra kadisha will also go out to the cemetery, and actually be involved in the burial itself. They will be the ones to carry the coffin, lower the coffin, and bury the body. The cemetery operators, even in today’s world, would just stand aside and let members of the community take care of the person who died, which is seen as a great act of kindness and a great mitzvah, something that is very worthwhile.

Jewish Burial, cont’d on pg. 4

Jewish Burial, cont'd

from pg. 3

Damian Lenshek: That’s wonderful. I understand that from the time of death, the body is never left alone?

Rabbi Zohn: That is correct. And again, based on Jewish belief, every person, every human being is made of two parts. There’s the physical. And there’s a spiritual part, which we call the soul.

That soul is God given, and continues to live eternally. We believe in an afterlife, very much so. And the idea is that when a person dies, our belief is that the soul, which is really our consciousness, is very much aware of everything that is happening with the body. The soul does not immediately move on to a spiritual world.

While it may already be in a spiritual state and even be aware of a spiritual world, it is also very much present in our physical world, though it cannot be seen. Therefore, we don’t just leave the body unattended with the understanding that, to the soul, that would be painful. They were partnered with the body for all these years and are very much concerned to see that it receives the respect that is due to every person who died.

So until the burial takes place, our belief is that the soul is very much aware, and is actually in a very sensitive state. So that’s one of the reasons why we believe in immediate burial –to allow the soul to move on.

A passage in Ecclesiastes [12:7] says, “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” We believe that’s a twostep process. When the body returns to the earth, the spirit can then move on to its final rest.

Damian Lenshek: Chevra kadisha also does a ritual washing of the body?

Rabbi Zohn: Yes. The original washing is basically a washing of the body

just as we would wash ourselves before a holiday, before a wedding, an important occasion or today in our world, every morning, because we’re blessed to take showers every day.

Our belief is actually just as we bathe a child as it comes into this world, we bathe the body to prepare it for the next world. And our belief is that there’s really a transition from this world to the next. And so it is bathed and washed very gently, carefully.

After the body has been washed, before it is dressed, there is a ritual pouring of water or actually an immersion in a ritual bath. So that is what we would call the ritual washing, what we call the Taharah. What is important to note is that, in this washing: Men wash men, women wash women. That is absolute - it’s a question of modesty and the body is always kept covered except where it needs to be washed. This is based on our understanding that the person, the soul, is aware.

And then the body is dressed in traditional shrouds, which are modeled after what was worn by the high priest in the temple on the holiest of days, because that was the day that he appeared before God to ask forgiveness for the people. That’s the day of Yom Kippur, which you’re probably familiar with, which is our holiest day. And so a body is dressed in the exact clothing that was worn by the high priest with an understanding that when we die, we appear before God for our final day of judgment. So it’s really appropriate to be dressed in a set of clothing that is modeled after what was worn by the high priest. It’s all white, symbolizing cleanliness from sin and so on.

Damian Lenshek: Are there prayers that go along with the washing and dressing?

Rabbi Zohn: There are actually. We pray for the person, that their sins be forgiven, that they be accepted, and move on to their rest in a world that is eternal. There are also passages of

Song of Songs that refer to the body in a very special way. And so as we wash the body, we might recite those passages.

There are passages recited that deal with purification as we do the purification. And passages from the prophets that talk about the dressing of the body, and its atonement. So these are passages that are said during the dressing. The same process is done for everyone, whether they are the most influential, affluent, or pious people in the community, or they are a homeless beggar – the exact same process for everyone. I always say, the eulogy might be different, but the process is the same.

Damian Lenshek: If you’re going to be a member of chevra kadisha, do you have to memorize these passages?

Rabbi Zohn: No. Some members of chevra might. Actually, in my own chevra kadisha, which is a very active chevra – we handle over, right now, about two and a half thousand cases each year. I mean, we are the chevra kadisha for all of Queens and Long Island, it’s a very large area, maybe the largest in the country, as a matter of fact. So I used to encourage memorization because we were always performing this, sometimes multiple times a day.

It’s just easier than having someone recite the prayers from a book. So I did encourage memorization. Many of the people did learn it by heart and this way we would actually all say it in unison together, but it’s not required. It could be said by one person or could be read. It does not have to be memorized.

Damian Lenshek is Director of Cemeteries for the Diocese of Madison and Chairman of the Catholic Cemetery Conference’s Grant Administration Committee. This article first appeared in the December 2022 issue of Catholic Cemetery Magazine.

St. Aloysius,

cont'd from pg. 2

their time to clear brush, trim trees, install new concrete bases for small monuments and straighten larger monuments. Additionally, there are a number of volunteers that are called upon when extra hands are needed. The Association hires a person to mow

Guidelines,

cont'd from pg. 1

dead must always bear witness to our faith in and our hope for what God has promised us.

the cemetery lawn, however, mowers, trimmers and fuel are provided by the Cemetery.

For all burials, we require an insured contractor to open and close graves. The funeral director coordinates with the contractor for the opening and closing of the grave. An Association member follows-up with the contractor to determine when to mark the site. All interments require a vault, including cremations. Also, a committal service, officiated by a priest or deacon, is required at all burials. Between 2020 and 2023, there were 37 burials, an average of nine interments per year. Of these, 19 interments were of cremated remains of the body and 18 were casket interments.

Looking ahead to 2024, the Association has planned landscaping projects that include the placement of benches overlooking the cemetery, the statue of St. Aloysius will be relocated to overlook the cemetery, and installation of the church bell. Both the bell and the Statue of St. Aloysius were removed from St. Aloysius Catholic Church when it closed.

Mayo Clinic offers Biocremation/ Alkaline Hydrolysis when the studies of donated bodies are completed. The remains may be returned to the donor family or interred by Mayo. Families may request that the body be returned for traditional cremation or burial, at their expense.

The Arimathean is made possible with funding from the...

The mission of St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery Association is to carry out the corporal work of mercy - to bury the dead. Maintaining the cemetery as a beautiful resting place for our loved ones as well as keeping it financially viable are integral to our mission. Since the merger of St. Aloysius Catholic Church there have been and there will continue to be challenges ahead for St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery. One challenge will be recruiting Cemetery Association members who are committed to the mission of St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery. Another challenge includes continually finding an array of volunteers to perform the often unseen, behind the scenes necessary work of running a Catholic cemetery. An ever-present challenge is financial. With the growth in popularity of cremation, many people are opting not to bury their loved ones in a sacred place. Our hope is that the challenges we face present some new opportunities and do not become insurmountable. It is our fervent hope that St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery will continue to be maintained as a sacred resting place for many generations

Cemeterians please note: Interments of human remains from alkaline hydrolysis are to be treated with the same respect and dignity as other interments of human remains. Committee’s full statement at: https://www.usccb.org/resources/On Proper Disposition 2023-03-20.pdf

Who We Serve

From Minnesota Catholic Cemetery Rules and Regulations, page 25

�atholic cemeteries in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, and in all dioceses in Minnesota, exist to serve not only the Church but also the greater community and all of society by making religious statements about the individual person, humankind, life, death, and life after death.

Those who minister in Catholic

View a...

Greeting and Welcome Video Address

...from Bishop Robert Barron, to those who work in this Corporal Work of Mercy, and to attendees at to the 2023 “Witnesses to Hope” Catholic Cemetery workshop, at the following web address!

cemeteries will extend their efforts to all baptized members of the Catholic tradition. Where families are divided in their religious tradition, the request for burial of a family member of another tradition will be honored.

Ceremonies

Only those ceremonies in keeping with Roman Catholic Church and the ecumenical guidelines within the Catholic dioceses of Minnesota, and, therefore,

vimeo.com/859891064/6e763e49dd?share=copy

accepted by the parishes and their cemeteries, may be conducted or celebrated within or at one or more of its member cemeteries.

All ceremonies are conducted under the auspices of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, and each of the Catholic dioceses of Minnesota asserts its right to be in control of any and all such ceremonies regardless of the individual(s) exercising leadership positions.

Arrangements for all ceremonies, including but not limited to committal services (both Catholic and those of other denominations), veteran observances, and celebrations of the Eucharist, must be made at the appropriate parish or cemetery office.

Questions, Suggestions, Cemetery Happenings

Do you have questions regarding Catholic cemetery policies or procedures?

Does your Catholic Cemetery Association have a project or event that you would like to share?

Do you have a suggestion for the director?

If so, please send an email to Larry Dose at LDose@DOWR.org, so it may be included in a future edition of The Arimathean. Your input is welcome and appreciated!

The Works of Mercy