BLACK DIAMOND – A small group of parishioners from St. Barbara Parish spends one afternoon each month praying for departed souls at a nearby community cemetery. 

“We talk about the Church’s teaching about praying for the dead and purgatory,” said Allison Ramirez, St. Barbara’s pastoral assistant of faith formation.

The monthly cemetery prayer service began in January, when a half-dozen parishioners met at the Black Diamond Cemetery, located about a mile from their church. After an opening prayer, which included intentions, the group made their way around the cemetery praying the rosary, stopping between decades to listen to a Scripture verse. After the rosary, they prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet, followed by a closing prayer that included quotes from the saints, Ramirez said. 

Parishioner Sheila DeBoer said she hadn’t spent much time in cemeteries, but was intrigued when she saw the new ministry advertised in the parish bulletin.

 “People don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the souls in purgatory,” said DeBoer, who joined the group in January. “You really do have a power to help them.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1030-32) explains that purgatory is the name the Church has given to the “final purification” of those who die “in God’s grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified.” This purification helps them “achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” 

From the beginning, the catechism continues, “the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.”

Grave markers at the Black Diamond Cemetery. (Courtesy Allison Ramirez)

When parishioner Gary Habenicht visits Black Diamond Cemetery as part of the St. Barbara prayer group, he pauses to think about the souls who have been laid to rest there, including his four great-grandparents.

“It’s a place for atonement and [to] make amends for unfinished business,” Habenicht said.

Ramirez said she was interested in praying for the dead even as a teenager, when she used purgatory as a theme in Catholic fiction she wrote.

“I was very fascinated [about] how our prayers can impact people who have passed on,” she said.

Ramirez said she and her husband, Nathan, have a tradition of remembering those who have died by attending monthly Mass at the archdiocese’s Gethsemane Cemetery in Federal Way. She wanted to try something similar at St. Barbara Parish.

After visiting Black Diamond Cemetery for a few months, the service was moved to the parish one evening in June to attract more parishioners, Ramirez said. Participants wrote down the name of loved ones so the group could pray for them, then watched videos about purgatory, the Stations of the Cross and Catholic funerals. They prayed the Stations of the Cross around the parish campus, using special meditations for souls in purgatory, Ramirez said.

The prayer service returned to the cemetery in July and August, when a handful of parishioners joined Ramirez to pray the rosary as they walked among the gravestones.

Ramirez said she hopes the ministry improves awareness of purgatory and provides comfort for people remembering lost loved ones. 

“It’s a nice chance to step out of the day-to-day and recognize the fragility of life,” she said.