By Jorge Dominguez

Auxiliary Bishop James Massa celebrated the Memorial Day Field Mass at St. Mary Star of the Sea Cemetery in Lawrence, L.I. A small congregation of 25 people attended the liturgy that was celebrated under a large white tent surrounded by headstones decorated with flowers and American flags.

“We are here today, as always, to pray for our beloved relatives,” said Bishop Massa in his homily. “It is a very special Catholic devotion – always to remember the dead, those who have done so much for us. It is a little gesture of thanksgiving to come to pray for them.”

Field Masses were also celebrated at St. John Cemetery, Middle Village; Holy Cross Cemetery, Flatbush; Mount St. Mary Cemetery, Flushing; and St. Charles/ Resurrection Cemeteries, Farmingdale L.I. The Masses are hosted each year by the diocesan Catholic Cemeteries Office.

Bishop Massa reminded the faithful that on Memorial Day it is fitting to pray for those who gave up their lives defending the country, but also for all deceased friends and family members.

He talked about Alice Nielsen, perhaps the most famous person buried at St. Mary Star of the Sea Cemetery. She was an opera singer and Broadway star during at the beginning of the 20th century. By 1900, she was “America’s biggest box-office draw.”

After a career that included singing with Enrique Caruso at the Covent Garden in London and owning her own production company, Nielsen settled in the Rockaways. She lived the rest of her life there with her brother, who was the organist at the St. Mary Star of the Sea parish, Far Rockaway.

“All of these grave-markers of all of the people who were buried here have their own stories. Some of those stories are part of your collective memory as a family, stories of your moms and dads who lived their lives, at least the last chapter of their lives, out here in the Rockaways,” said Bishop Massa.

Thomas Phelan, who, for many years was a parishioner of St. Mary Star of the Sea, returned to his old parish’s cemetery on Memorial Day, as he does every year. Like most of the people there, Phelan had a personal reason. He had come to pray for Private First Class Peter T. Melahn, who died fighting in the Vietnam War. Phelan never met Private Melahn, but as a child he got to know the soldier’s parents at the parish. And through them he learned about Private Melahn’s life and death at age 24.

“He gave his life for our country in Vietnam,” he said. “The Knights of Columbus, Council 378, named a Columbian Squires Circle after Peter. They did it because he gave his life for our country.

“We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for our military personnel who made the supreme sacrifice. I try to come to the cemetery every year, especially on this day to pray for our military personnel. This is the day to remember them.”