Sicklerville and Cavalry

Just a few thoughts that came about over the past few days...

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I don't know why, but every time I return home, NYC just seems like a dream I woke out of. Returning to the motions of life in Sicklerville is almost too easy but in a way I find it so refreshing.

I went with dad to go pick up a couple bushels of corn feed last weekend. I guess I really have been in the city for far too long because I just found it so enjoyable - sitting in the passenger seat of our SUV and driving along from the suburbs of Sicklerville into the countryside of Elmer. It wasn't anything new --I've done this a number of times through the years -- but I found quite a deal of enjoyment in going through the familiar. Unlike the nipping cold of the past few NYC days, the weather was actually quite admirable for fall weather. I saw a couple birds of prey flying over the long expanse of fields (dad kept identifying them as turkey vultures but I'm pretty sure they're something else).

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According to my Catholic faith, last Sunday was All Soul's Day, a time to remember and pray for the dearly departed. I decided to accompany my friends from Newman Club to Calvary Cemetery for a service project: to clean the stained tombstones of the dead. It may sound like a very morbid activity but if you actually saw the place, you would see how peaceful and serene the place really was.

I suppose three things caught my attention that day:

- As we were walking around the large cemetery (its one of the largest three cemeteries in the country), we come upon a statue of Rachel weeping for her children (Jeremiah 31:15). It was erected for all the dead unborn children. The first detail I noticed was that someone had hung a rosary around her neck. The second detail I noticed was that their were water stains beneath her eyes which made it appear that she actually was crying...

- When we began cleaning the tombstones with ammonia and water, I was amazed at how old some of the tombstones were (I believe the oldest birth date I saw was around 1803). As I continued to read off the dates I realized that many of the tombstones we were cleaning were those of very young individuals. The first few I noticed were young men and women who were our age. And then I started finding those of teenagers. Danielle Ngo then came upon one that once had little figurine attached to the top. It had broken into three pieces which were then laid against the tombstone. Curious, we attempted to re-assemble the piece and found it to be that of a child. We looked at the tombstone and saw that it was a girl with the last name McCabe (the first name had long since faded with time). She was 12 years old.

- Once we had done what we could and made our way out, we began to take notice of some of the designs of some of the mausoleums and large ornate tombstones that had some very intricate and beautiful designs and figures. Amidst a number of old tombstones near the exit I noticed one tombstone that seemed a lot newer than the others surrounding it.

The date of birth read something along the lines of "February 1, 1983."
The date of death read something along the lines of "March 9, 1983."

The child was barely three months old.


"Oh my Jesus forgive us our sins.
Save us from the fires of Hell.
And lead all souls to Heaven
Especially those in most need of Thy mercy.

Amen."