125 years ago in 1898

Taken directly from the pages of The Youngstown Vindicator:

“Sunday funerals, no more of them to be held in this Catholic Diocese. The Bishop’s order, it went into effect yesterday and is heartily endorsed by Rev. Father Mears.

“Owing to an order issued by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Horstman, no more Sunday funerals will be held in this Catholic Diocese, the order going into effect yesterday. That manifesto is as follows:

“‘To the Rev. Rectors and Pastors in the Diocese of Cleveland: From and after January 1, 1898, Sunday funerals will be prohibited in the diocese of Cleveland, except in the case of the extreme necessity, to which fact the priest issuing the burial permit will certify by letter to the sexton, or superintendent of the cemetery in which interment is to be made.

“‘If by reason of death from contagious disease it is necessary to permit an interment on Sunday, only a hearse, or wagon, and not more than three carriages or other vehicles, will be allowed to enter the cemetery.

“‘The reverend rector and pastors, as also those having immediate charge of Catholic Cemeteries, will be governed by the above regulations in regard to burial permits and funerals. By order of the Rt. Rev. Bishop G. F. Houck, Chancellor. Cleveland, O., December 23 1897.’

“This is the first Catholic order ever issued in this regard to the holding of funerals on Sunday, but not the first order concerning the conduct of interments by members of the Catholic church.

“In a talk yesterday with the Rev. Father Edward Mears, pastor of St. Columba’s Church, he said that it was perhaps 30 years ago an order was issued prohibiting the use of more than four carriages or buggies. The latter were more common in those days than the cab or coupe and covered carriage, and when a lot of those who went to the funeral had a bit of diversion after coming from the cemetery, indulging in horse races, smashing buggies, and so on.

“Relative to the prohibition of Sunday funerals, Father Mears was free to talk and give his views. He said he had not been informed why the letter was issued, but no doubt the reasons were that the Sunday funeral interferes with them saying a Mass in the forenoon, creates confusion, often prevents members of the congregation from attending service, and lastly makes it impossible to have a mass for the dead and certain other services that are so strenuously insisted upon by the Catholic Church.

“Nearly coincident with the Bishop’s order, which Father Mears fully and heartily endorses, was a sermon in the local pulpit in which the reverend gentleman objected to the Sunday funeral for the reason that the gentlemen of the Protestant cloth were thereby overworked.

“No such complaint came from the priests of the diocese, but the order was undoubtedly issued, as Father Mears says, to prevent confusion in the conduct of Sunday services, and that the full funeral service might be held in the church in accordance with Catholic custom and earnest wish.”

• Compiled from the Youngstown Vindicator by Traci Manning, Mahoning Valley Historical Society curator of education.