If you’ve never attended the funeral of a C.S.C. At Sacred
by irishguard78 (2019-02-11 22:49:08)
Edited on 2019-02-12 07:27:09

Heart, I’d recommend going out of your way to witness something very moving.

Today I went to my friend, Fr. Michael Heppen’s funeral. His brother C.S.C.s showed up en masse. The service and homily were very spiritual.

The priest who delivered the homily did a great job of memorializing my friend and in a spiritual way that those of us who knew him completely understood. It wasn’t something he threw together at the last minute. I fact, I swear there were two occasions where he struggled to say the words he’d written.

Toward the end, the organist plays the alma mater, which I thought was going to be all there was.......and then, son of a gun, all those 45-50 guys up there on the altar, with strong voices sing Notre Dame Our Mother, while mere mortals like me and others were so choked up we couldn’t sing a note.

If that isn’t enough..after Mass.....as the casket is taken out to the front of Sacred Heart and despite the shitty weather, those men, those brothers who might have had differences of opinion during the deceased’s life, those priests young and old, walk to the cemetery where their brother is laid to rest. Only the frailest of the C.S.C.s didn’t make the trek. The rest made the walk to honor their fellow priest.

And then, with one last show of appreciation even after death, Fr. Heppen, through Brother Dennis, provided his friends with cigars to celebrate and honor his life.

For all the times I’ve expressed frustration or disappointment with the Holy Cross fathers, when one of their own dies, they honor him as each of us would wish and hope out family would. So if you’re ever on campus for a funeral of a Holy Cross priest, I’d highly recommend you spend an hour and a half to witness how we would all like to be remembered and celebrated when we die


Fr. Ted’s was likely the closest most of us have experienced
by Stonebreaker42  (2019-02-12 18:53:37)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

While I didn’t make the cut to experience the Basilica service in person, the procession to the cemetery around this time of year is etched in my memory. Very moving.


My brother attended as well
by Raoul  (2019-02-12 08:54:31)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

said it was very nice. Good to hear it was such a beautiful chance for all to say good bye.


By chance
by sayahailmary  (2019-02-12 15:08:46)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

was your brother ever known as Flounder?


It is all of that and more
by PLAC2DAY  (2019-02-12 01:09:51)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


As a high school seminarian at Holy Cross Seminary (which closed in May of 1967), we witnessed the close brotherhood shared by the order at the time of a passing, and we participated fully. We honored the deceased by always posting two seminarians (thirty-minute shifts) on the wooden kneeler before the casket, including throughout the night. Back then, the wakes were in Corby, making the morning transfer to the Basilica an easy process. The funeral masses were beautiful and well-attended. The subsequent march to the cemetery was always somber, even more so in frigid weather. There is a corner of the cemetery with the graves of the priests who died between September of 1964 and May of 1966. Those were my priests, though I never knew any of them in life. Nonetheless, they are the ones in whose presence I whispered prayers on that kneeler and later accompanied them to the funeral masses and their final resting places. I have photos of their grave stones in my phone, and I still remember all of them as though it were yesterday.


Well-said. Beautiful. *
by RagingBull  (2019-02-11 22:51:48)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post