Can Laity sprinkle Holy Water on Gravesite?

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MaryTherese1

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In the hopes (please God) of obtaining a plenary indulgence for All Souls Month, I would like to visit the cemetery where my mother is buried (Jewish cemetery) as well as a Catholic cemetery in the hopes of obtaining the indulgence for my mother and for other souls. Somebody suggested that I sprinkle holy water on my mother’s grave … Is this allowed by the laity? Thx!
 
Pretty sure the answer is “Yes”. The answer is definitely yes for a Catholic blessing a Catholic grave. Probably ok in the Jewish cemetery if it is your mother’s grave. Not so much, perhaps, if you were blessing a stranger’s grave. 🙂
 
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Yes, you’re allowed to throw some holy water on a grave and ask God to bless the person.

You can get the plenary indulgence visiting the Jewish cemetery. You don’t have to go to a Catholic one. If you would like to get two indulgences, go to each cemetery on a separate day as you can get the indulgence on 8 days of your choice in November.

Please be discreet if you wish to engage in Catholic practices in a non-Catholic cemetery. Sprinkle your holy water when no one is around or looking. Same for praying for the dead in Protestant cemeteries where they don’t believe the dead need prayers. I would add that when it’s your mom, then your respectful prayer practices in your own tradition are definitely fine.
 
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Thx… I guess I will pray about it my mother was not devout and was very open to my conversion to Catholicism when I used to ask her to pray for me during hard times to either Jesus or Mary she would say " I will pray to Mary because she is a mother and I am a mother" obviously this does not make my mother a baptised Catholic… I agree with you… I would not want to be disrespectful at a Jewish cemetery… But I want to give my mother All the prayers I can offer for her… I will pray about it at Mass today! Thank you
 
I’m of the opinion that when praying for the dead in a graveyard, “it’s easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.”

Also, it’s her mom. If someone told me how I was and was not allowed to pray for my mom at her grave, within reasonable limits (obviously sprinkling a small amount of water is not disruptive or harmful, it’s not like she’s making loud noises or dancing widdershins), I’d be having a word with them.

Usually in November I pray in a variety of cemeteries for the dead. Many of them are Protestant and would probably not be happy with the idea of me even praying for the deceased so I do it quietly, try to include some prayers from their tradition and then I leave. The Jewish cemetery actually is one of the ones more okay with praying for the dead, but I did get a fisheye for standing over Jim Croce’s grave playing my favorite Croce song (“Operator”) on my phone.
 
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I’m sure I’m not the first one who played a song at Jim’s grave, and won’t be the last one either, so I’m not laying awake nights over it. It was playing very softly so I’m not sure the person looking at me even heard it as they were a distance away. They may have simply wondered what I was doing in the empty cemetery as I’ve also had people just watch me in other cemeteries for no reason, probably because there aren’t many visitors.

Things are pretty relaxed around here and there don’t tend to be a lot of rules posted in cemeteries except perhaps for “no dogs” and the opening and closing hours. We have a cemetery around here about every quarter mile, some attached to churches, some large and impersonal, and most of them dead empty unless a graveside service is going on or it’s Mother’s or Father’s Day.
 
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My impression of UK and other parts of Europe is that they police the cemeteries there much more than in USA. Many if not most cemeteries here are like I said largely deserted, and the primary concerns are more along the lines of preventing vandalism, criminal mischief and anything like dogs or picnics that might mess up the grounds. In urban areas they’re also concerned about sex crimes, muggings, prostitution, drug use, homeless people camping there etc.

My concerns about not looking like I’m praying Catholic prayers are usually related to some of the small historic Protestant cemeteries I visit where the church is right there and occasionally people are coming and going to the church. If I’m in the middle of Megacemetery then I’m less concerned.

Having said that, let us know what the rabbi said as I was planning to go pray in another Jewish cemetery this week and while I wasn’t planning to sprinkle holy water, it’s good to know. I usually say Kaddish when I go. My (mostly nonpracticing but they head a Jewish foundation) Jewish friend told me that was okay for me to do.

Bonus picture of cemetery I prayed in a week or so ago with nice view of nearby bridge. This one was either Methodist or non-denominational. There are houses along its edges and some kids were playing among the graves.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
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