Whenever I’m in St. John’s Cemetery in Middle Village, I make it a point to drive over to the Priests’ Circle to pay respects to the diocesan clergy who are interred there.
So it was not unusual to do so when I was there to cover the Memorial Day Field Mass.
I was drawn to the marker with the American flag. It was the site of burial for Msgr. Walter Murphy, the former pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Fort Greene. The flag reminded me that before he was a priest, Msgr. Murphy had been a U.S. Marine.
I had known Msgr. Murphy since the early 1960s when he was first assigned to teach us at Cathedral Prep in Brooklyn. We tagged him with the nickname of Captain Murphy. He had a tough, disciplinarian approach which I learned later on was more of a defense mechanism for a guy with a big, soft heart.
Msgr. Murphy went on to become the first business manager at Cathedral College’s Douglaston campus before returning to parish duty. I never heard him speak about his time in the Marines but somehow we all knew it. He would have had it no other way than to be with the stars and stripes on Memorial Day.
Msgr. Murphy, who died in 2012, is buried in the Priests’ Plot at St. John’s. Every diocesan priest has the option to be buried there or in a family plot as he wishes.
In the summer of 2013, when Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan was killed in an auto accident, we were surprised that he had opted in his will to be buried with his fellow priests and not in the bishop’s crypt.
As a Cathedral graduate, I couldn’t help but notice the final resting places for Msgr. Joe Martusciello, one of the best math teachers we ever had, and Father James Kirrane, a master of music.
From my childhood parish of St. Alphonsus, Greenpoint, I recalled Father Ernie Fiorillo, who died much too young in life.
I passed by the sites of Father Robert Kennedy, a former editorial writer for The Tablet, as well as the great Msgr. Marty Bannan, who directed CYO for so many years, and Msgr. John B. Lavin, the late secretary to Bishop Francis J. Mugavero.
The priests’ plot is arranged in a circle surrounding a statue of St. John Vianney, the patron of parish priests. If you’re in the cemetery, make a visit and say a prayer for these men who served us well. The section is located near the corner of Woodhaven Blvd. and Furmanville Ave. on the northern most part of the cemetery.
I drove back toward the Metropolitan Ave. side for the Mass that was celebrated by Bishop DiMarzio along with about 500 people. For many, the Memorial Day Field Mass is a tradition.
Msgr. Michael Reid, the moderator of diocesan cemeteries, concelebrated with Deacons Jaime Varella and Deacon Jack McGreevey assisting at the altar.
Bishop DiMarzio spoke of the irony of wishing someone a “Happy” Memorial Day since it is a day when we remember people who have died in the line of duty for their country. But, he said, celebration was appropriate because “those who have died have not gone into oblivion. They have gone into eternal life.”
The bishop also added a contemporary prayer for those who are being persecuted these days for their faith. He prayed that they have strength to resist and remain steadfast in their beliefs.
Msgr. Reid prayed for those who have survived the battlefield only to return home, physically and emotionally scarred by the experience. Offering prayers in a cemetery on Memorial Day seemed like the right thing to do.