Vespers in the Graveyard

Despite the threatening weather, on the way home from Hobart I stopt and, moved by the Spirit perhaps, decided to pray in the Pontville Catholic cemetery where my godmother Elizabeth is buried: so I walked that hallowed ground, where rest those sown by Christ the Sower to rise again at the end of time to face the General Doom, and for their souls read Vespers of the Dead (Placebo).

It's been too long since I've visited a graveyard: it's a real moral tonic. Memento mori!

In (a) Country Churchyard(s) – Part II

A.  Having made my intended visit to St Michael's Church, Campbell Town, I can now post the inscriptions on the three priests' gravestones:

1.  (On the right, not the left):

IN 

MEMORY 

OF 

The Very Rev. 

D.V.M. O'CONNELL 

O.S.B. 

Died 12th Sep. 1901. 

Aged 77 Years.  

Requiescat in Pace.

2.  In the middle:

MAY THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS BE EVERYWHERE LOVED 

PRAY FOR 

REV. FATHER 

HENRY CHETAIL M.S.H. [*]

WHO DIED 

MARCH 15TH 1904 

The good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep

[*sic; lege HENRI CHETAIL M.S.C.] 

3.  On the left (not the right):

"Give thanks to the Lord" 

"His mercy endures for ever" 

Rev Fr 

Leo Bernard Kirkham 

Died 11th April 1985 

Aged 69 years 

Ordained priest of God 

Rome 1953 

May he rest in peace.

Having checked with a knowledgeable friend, I can confirm that Fr Kirkham was a late vocation (he would have been about 37 when he was ordained – I expect he attended the Beda), and a good priest; as the others also were, God rest them: 

Sacerdotes in æternum, requiescant in pace.  Amen.

B.  And how could I forget? – while I didn't have a chance to stop and pay my respects, at another country graveyard nearer Hobart, next to St Matthew's, Pontville, is buried my godmother, Elizabeth Compton: 

May the soul of Elizabeth, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

I managed to say a passing De profundis for the priests, and one for my godmother, while travelling to and from Hobart...   A good reminder to pray for the dead.