Deeley leads prayer service for unclaimed cremated remains at new Lewiston crypt

LEWISTON — Bishop Robert Deeley led a prayer service outside the new All Souls Remebrance Crypt at St. Peter’s Cemetery on Monday, Nov. 2, as part of an outdoor All Souls’ Day prayer service.
The crypt was donated by Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services of the Diocese of Portland to ensure that there was a fit place for unclaimed cremated remains.
“This act of mercy is a reminder of the sacredness of the human person,” Deeley told those gathered. “It is in the body that family bonds are nurtured, that friendships are possible, and that we are able gratefully to recall the words and acts of kindness of the deceased person. The body is, of course, also a spiritual reality. The human body is in Christ a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is anointed in baptism and confirmation. As the person is sacred as a creation of God, so too is the body in which that person lived life.”
Deeley said a prayer for the remains being interred, then completed the rite of final commendation and committal of the cremated remains with the sprinkling of holy water on the remains.
Joining the bishop was Monsignor Marc Caron and Deacon Denis Mailhot. The service was held on All Souls’ Day, when Catholics pray for the souls of those who have died and, Catholics believe, are still in purgatory being prepared for eternal life in heaven.
“We give respect to the body even in death, and it is in respect for the persons whose remains we inter in this vault today that we are here,” said Deeley. “Today we come to inter these cremated remains, mindful of the persons, men and women, whom they represent. We are grateful for their lives and commend them to our loving God in the hope that they know eternal peace in the love of God.”