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Why?
For Seamus, Saint Dominic's Cemetery was a sacred place, as holy as the church itself. He could never abide people who did not respect the dignity and beauty of the grounds that he worked so hard on. Of course, accidents happen, just like they do at home. They can't be avoided.
For instance, there was the time that the Fathers were bringing Brother Michael to be buried. He had died in a hospital in Texas, but he wanted to come home and spend eternity with his brothers in Benicia, in what Seamus heard was called in a joking but respectful way, the underground community up on the hill. Because it was a school day, no as many of the student brothers were able to come. However, a number of priests from all over came to the cemetery to pay their respects to Brother Michael. Some also told Seamus that they were coming to say hello to some of the priests and brothers that they had known in the years gone by.
As Brother Robert was helping carry Brother Michael's coffin to the grave, all of a sudden it slipped from his hands. The end of the handle had come loose after the screws had fallen out in the hearse. Luckily Seamus was following right behind Brother Michael's coffin and was able to grab it before it fell onto the ground. Seamus felt sorry for Brother Robert and told him after the Burial Service was finished that it certainly was not his fault and that he was going to contact the manufacturer of the coffin and file a complaint concerning poor workmanship. Although he had not done so recently, in the past he had made the coffins for the transfer of the remains of the early Fathers from Saint Dominic's Church and the nuns from Saint Catherine's. So he knew something of what had to be done to make a decent coffin. He knew a quality piece of workmanship and Brother Michael's coffin was an example of poor workmanship, at best!
But if the near tragedy with Brother Michael's coffin was an accident, there were two other things that stood out in Seamus' mind as examples of humanity at its lowest.
One All Saints Day, just as he was getting his family ready for Mass on the holy day of obligation, The phone rang in the kitchen of Seamus' new home in Eckley. Father Parsons was on the line urging him to immediately come over to Benicia.
"But we're just one our way to Mass at Saint Patrick's. What happened? Can it wait?"
"Seamus, I wish it could, but it can't. Someone broke into the cemetery last night and now this place looks like Vine Hill Dump over in Martinez."
Seamus could feel his blood pressure rising as he asked,
"What did they do?"
"The police are up there right now investigating, but you'd better come across as quickly as you can. They knocked over some grave stones, smashed some windows in the family mausoleums, painted graffiti all over the altar...generally Seamus they trashed the place."
"Who did this outrage? Do you know?"
"I don't know, but the police said they are talking to some people who may have seen and heard something. I don't know, but can you please come over here right away?"
"Father, I'll be over there as quickly as I can."
Of course, it seemed to Seamus that it took even longer to catch the ferry in Port Costa over to Benicia, but finally he arrived and waiting for him at the dock was Father Parsons. Together they hurried up to the cemetery as fast as they could, but not a word was spoken on the way. As Father Parson made the right turn onto Hillcrest, Seamus looked with horror towards the cemetery. As they turned down the beautiful lane towards the circle where the priests were buried, his hand went to his mouth in utter disbelief. Climbing out of the car, he looked around and could not believe what he saw.
"Oh God...O God...O God...Why? Why did they do this?"
The outdoor altar was defaced and covered in obscenities. Toilet paper had been hung from the granite cross. Throughout the cemetery grave stones had been knocked over and in the family mausoleums some of the glass in the doors had been shattered. Some of the rose bushes had been torn up. The only section that had not been defaced was Holy Angels Dormitory. At least, Seamus thought, they had the decency to leave the babies alone.
But the rest of the cemetery...why ever would someone want to do such a hideous deed? It was beyond Seamus' comprehension. The dead had done nothing to anyone and Seamus had tried so very hard to make sure that Saint Dominic's Cemetery had a peaceful park like atmosphere that anyone would be able to come and enjoy.
After inspecting the damage, the police sergeant came over and said,
"Mr. Gilchrist? I need to ask you a few questions. Is there some place where we can sit down?"
Seamus took him over to the cemetery office and spent almost forty-five minutes giving the sergeant the information he required.
Finally Seamus asked,
"Officer, do you have nay idea who might have done this? Are there any suspects?"
"I understand that one lady across the street heard some noise over here sometime after midnight. She looked out her front window and saw some boys, young men, climbing over the fence."
"Why didn't call you then?"
The sergeant shook his head and said,
"I don't know, I really don't know. I wish she would have, but maybe she was afraid or maybe she thought they were chasing a ball or something. Anyway, I have to go see her again in a few minutes and maybe something will come up. I promise that I will keep you informed and please, if you hear anything, anything at all, call me immediately. The sooner we can find out who did this, the better it will be for everyone."
Seamus shook the officer's hand and again went out and inspected the cemetery. Some of the damage would be fixed fairly easily, but other damage was going to be much more difficult. Well, the first thing I need to do, thought Seamus, is make an inventory of the damage.
With that Seamus went out and spent the next five hours making notes on the graves that were damaged. He might have been able to finish his work sooner, but throughout the afternoon people came to see what had happened and if their own family graves had been damaged. Most of the people were understanding and cooperative, but there were a few that yelled at Seamus and accused him of being uncaring for the graves and any number of other things. Whether they were in a bad mood or a helpful mood, Seamus assured everyone who came to the cemetery that the vandalism would be cleaned up as soon as possible. He told anyone who would listen that the police were on top of the case and were working as hard as any police department could to solve the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Just when Seamus was getting tired of repeating the story over and over again, the Benicia Times Herald sent a reporter over and Seamus had to tell the whole story from the very beginning. He realized that this was an important person to talk to since they would be able to get the word out and maybe, just maybe, uncover some small piece of evidence that would crack the case for the police.
When the cemetery was finally quiet, Seamus locked the gates and headed back down Fifth to go to the docks and return to his home. Thankfully, Father Parsons came along and gave him a ride. He offered to Seamus a meal at Saint Dominic's before he returned across the Strait, but Seamus said,
"Father, I am so tired that I can't think straight right now. I just need to go home and try to relax. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day, and to tell you the truth, I'm not looking forward to it."
As much as Father Parsons tried to get him to change his mind, Seamus just wanted to go home and relax with his beloved Kathleen and his children.
On the trip to Port Costa he heard several people talking about the vandalism at Saint Dominic's Cemetery, but he was too tired to say anything. For the moment he wanted to forget what he had seen. Once he had been left at the docks in Port Costa he walked along the railroad tracks the brief distance to his home. His children saw their father coming up the hill towards the house and they ran out to him,
"Daddy, Daddy!"
Kathleen followed close behind them and when she got to Seamus she kissed him and shooed the children back to the house with an admonition to get ready for dinner. She held Seamus' hand and asked quietly,
"What happened at the cemetery? I heard at Mass that there had been some damage to the cemetery, but nobody seemed to know anything."
"Kathleen, dear Kathleen, you just cannot imagine what they did. They've desecrated a quiet, holy place that wasn't bothering anyone. Terrible things were written all over the altar, stones were turned over, glass was shattered. You just cannot imagine. It's a mess and it is not going to be easy to clean up!"
"Well, you have insurance, do you not? That will take of it, won't it?"
"Some of it, I suppose, but I bet they won't take care of all of it. I'm just going to have to wait and see. It's just something that I would never have imagined in all my days could ever happen to a bunch of defenseless dead people. It makes no sense.
After silently eating dinner, Seamus went and sat on his porch looking over the Strait towards Benicia. In his mind he went over and over what he had seen and tried to imagine what he as going to have to do to repair the damage. Before long Seamus mercifully fell asleep. Several hours later Kathleen came and gently led him to their bed where he was asleep even before he could remove his clothes.
The next morning Seamus hurried over to Benicia on the early ferry and headed immediately for the nursery. He made arrangements for them to come out and inspect the damage and see what needed to be done. He sent a telegram to Napa Marble and Granite and asked them to come down as soon as possible to give him an estimate on repairs for the stones that had been damaged. Finally he was able to see the insurance agent and made arrangements for him to make an inspection of the cemetery. He then began to compile a list of families that would have to contacted. Some of the families he was able to speak with directly, while others would have to be contacted by mail. Especially if a letter was sent, Seamus signed each and every one personally. Apart from three families, everyone that Seamus contacted was very understanding. In several cases they worked with the cemetery's insurance agent and made sure that a claim was made on their homeowners insurance.
It took all of November and most of December before the damage was repaired. Thankfully there were very few burials while the repairs were going on. On the day before Christmas Eve, Father Callahan, the priest that had replaced Father Murphy as the local superior of the Dominicans, came up to inspect the cemetery. He suggested that on the Feast of Epiphany, the Feast of the Three Kings, that he would come to the cemetery and rededicate it. He felt that it would be important to make this kind of public statement that Saint Dominic's was not going to be intimidated.
"They can knock us down, but damnit, we're going to get up again. And we're going to be stronger and better!"
Seamus agreed that this would be a very good idea and asked that maximum publicity be given to this rededication. He told Father Callahan that he was going to contact the newspaper and ask them to send a reporter to cover the ceremony. Father Callahan agreed that this was a good plan.
After Father Callahan left his office, Seamus called the police to see if there were any leads. Unfortunately there were no new lead. Nobody had seen anything except the one neighbor who had seen some boys or men climbing over the fence. Regrettably she had not seen their faces and so was not able to give any further information. For the moment, the case was dead.
And that is the way it remained until Father Callahan rededicated the cemetery on January 6th. As promised, the Times Herald sent as reporter who filed a story that complementary to the highest degree of the work of Saint Dominic's Cemetery and the Dominican Fathers and of Seamus Gilchrist. The article quoted some ancient author that said the measure of any society is how well it takes care of its dead. Surely Saint Dominic's gave evidence of the highest degree of the nobility of the human spirit. It thanked everyone who had contributed to the cleaning up and repairing of the cemetery. It was these people, the paper concluded, that really told the truth about the people of Benicia.
Seamus liked the article so much that he cut a copy of it out of the paper and had it framed. "
"This" he told Kathleen one night at dinner, "this is how I want to run the cemetery."
To Seamus enormous relief the reporter's article generated an anonymous note. The police would never tell Seamus what the note said, but after several days of investigation they called his office and told him that an arrest had been made. Five boys, really five young men, had been arrested for felony vandalism. The district attorney eventually filed charges against the five young men and they were convicted for their crime. Even though it was clear that they were drunk at the time, they were given serious jail time, time the judge hoped they would use to reflect on what they had done and what they had to do in the future to become productive members of society. Seamus was asked if there was anything that he wanted to say to the defendants.
Seamus slowly took the stand and looked around the courtroom and then looked the five young men straight in the eye.
"I will not condemn you, but neither will I do anything to allow you to go free. You've injured more than a piece of property. You've tried to harm our history. But because of the great men and women buried up in Saint Dominic's Cemetery this community is a better place. Some day, when you get out of jail, I want you to come to the cemetery and I will tell you about some of the people buried up there. Maybe they're your own family or maybe they were friends. Maybe you don't know them and maybe you don't care, but some day I hope that I can tell you who they were and why our community is better because of them."
With that Seamus stepped down and headed towards his seat. He paused for a moment before the defendants and then walked through the small wooden gate. One of the mothers of the boys was crying. Seamus bent over and hugged her. He whispered in her ear something that made her look at him with a grateful heart and a peaceful smile. With that he left to courtroom and returned to his office.
That evening at dinner, Conor asked his father what he had told the lady and Seamus refused to tell him.
"Son, there are some things that are as sacred a what the priest hears and says in the Confessional. You can never repeat them. It's in God's eternal and loving mercy."
If Seamus seemed to be forgiving towards the boys who so vandalized the cemetery, he was not so forgiving towards the parish secretary at Saint Dominic's.
After the Hercules Powder Company sold its operations to another company, a number of the Chinese workers moved away from the factory. Several families moved to Benicia. One of them, the Lees, were Catholics from the time of Mateo Ricci. They faithfully came to Mass, but rarely did they stay for any social functions. As soon as the Last Gospel and the Leonine Prayers, they hurried out the door and down the street to their home. Or most of the parish, the Lees were more of a name than anything else.
Late one summer the Lees were not seen for several weeks. Seamus himself was not seen either. He had taken a vacation back to Ireland to see his family. It was the first time in almost forty years that Seamus had returned to the land of his birth. He was excited, as were Kathleen and his children. They were going to spend six weeks visiting his family in County Kerry. The only thing that made him sad was that when he returned to Ireland, he was now carrying an American Passport. While it made note of the fact that he had been born in Ireland, Seamus was now identified as an American citizen. The only thing that brought a smile to his face was knowing that he would be able to show this to his brother Tomas. Now Tomas would really see that Seamus was his " 'merican' brother!"
Back at Saint Dominic's Father Parsons finally discovered why the Lees had not been at Mass for several weeks. Grandpa Lee had had a heart attack and was in the hospital. His family was so worried about him that they would not leave his bedside. Father Parsons gave him the Last Rites and the next morning Grandpa Lee peacefully died.
When the Lees went up to Saint Dominic's Cemetery to purchase a plot for their grandfather, they found a sign saying that they should contact the parish office down on I Street to make arrangements for burial. They turned around and went to the parish office and when the secretary opened the door she snapped,
"What are you doing here? What do you want?"
Mr. Lee's eldest son explained that his father had died and that they wanted to arrange for a burial up at Saint Dominic's.
With an angry look in her eye, the secretary snapped at them,
"That's impossible! We don't want any chinks up there."
The Lees were stunned. All they were asking for was a burial spot. They were not going to ask the secretary to join them for dinner or anything like that. One of Mr. Lee's grandsons was going to say something when his father hushed him. With a dignity that the secretary lacked, they left the parish office and headed over to the City Cemetery to arrange a burial spot there. When they saw Father Parsons after Mass the following Sunday, he asked them about their grandfather and how he was doing. He was saddened to hear that Grandpa Lee had died. When he asked about the funeral arrangements, Mr. Lee's son told him that he had already been buried at the City Cemetery. Father Parsons thought that his reaction was odd, but there was nothing that he could get out of to explain why they had buried their father without a Mass and why it was in the City Cemetery.
When Seamus returned from Ireland, re rested for two days, but finally went back to his office. He had not been at his desk for ten minutes when the telephone rang.
"Saint Dominic's Cemetery. May I help you?"
"Seamus, Scott Rodgers here. Can I come and see you immediately?"
"Scott, you are always welcome here as long as it's not to be taking me away in some box of yours."
"Seamus, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Seamus thought it odd that Scott was coming over to see him. If there was a burial to arrange, they would do it over the telephone and that would be the end of it. No, Scott seemed quite anxious. He didn't even laugh at my joke, Seamus thought.
As he was going through his mail, he saw Scott drive into the cemetery in the flower van. Scott came directly over to the office and nervously come into the office.
Without any beating around the bush, Scott began,
"Seamus, I'm not sure I should even be telling you this, but I have to. Do you remember the Lee family? The Chinese people form Hercules? I think that they were members of Saint Dominic's. Well, Old man Lee died shortly after you left for Ireland and when they came to make arrangements, they buried him at the City Cemetery, not at Saint Dominic's. They didn't even have a Mass or Rosary for him. They just told me to send him over to the City Cemetery and bury him. That's all! I had the feeling that something had happened over at the parish office, but they would not talk about it. Maybe you can find out something. Father Parsons tried, but he didn't get anywhere with them. Maybe you can try."
"No Mass? No Rosary? The City Cemetery? They were always at Mass. The old man deserves a decent Christian Burial with his brothers and sisters in Christ. Not up there at the City Cemetery. Besides, our place has more character than they do!"
Seamus thought for a moment and finally said,
"Scott, I appreciate your coming to tell me this. I'm going to look into this right now."
When Scott left the office, Seamus quickly cleaned off his desk and headed down to the Lees. He did not know them well, but he had seen them at Mass when he went in Church in Benicia and not at Saint Patrick's. He found their home without trouble and when he knocked on the door, the grandson opened up and looked at him with suspicious eyes.
"Yes?"
"I'm Seamus Gilchrist. May I speak to your mother or father? Please?"
The boy eyed him again, shut the door and went and got his father. When Mr. Lee opened the door, he said,
"You look familiar to me. Who are you?"
"I'm Seamus Gilchrist, from Saint Dominic's Cemetery. May I please come in?"
Mr. Lee showed him to the kitchen table where his wife poured them a cup of tea. After a moment, Seamus said,
"I just heard that your father died. I'm very sorry. I also heard, no matter how, that you buried your father at the City Cemetery without a Mass. I also heard that you had some difficulties in this while matter and I am here to see what happened and what can or must be done."
For a moment Mr. Lee would not speak of what had happened, but Seamus insisted that he tell him. After some minutes of hemming and hawing, Mr. Lee told him the whole story. He told Seamus that after his father died he went to the cemetery to make arrangements for a grave. He saw the sign sending them to the parish office and so they went there to arrange for the grave. But the secretary would not sell them a grave. She said, Mr. Lee told him,
"We don't want any chinks up there."
With a fury that rarely surfaced Seamus asked him to repeat what he had just said.
With great embarrassment Mr. Lee repeated,
"We don't want any chicks up there."
Seamus stormed out of the Lee home, assuring Mr. Lee that he would return within an hour.
"And heads will roll, they will roll and roll fast!"
He went directly into the parish office and when the secretary Edith looked up, Seamus yelled at her,
"Where's Father Parsons?"
"He's in his office, but..."
Seamus went immediately to Father Parson's office and slammed the door behind him.
Before he even sat down, he said,
"Father, do you remember the old Mr. Lee, the Chinese man who was sick? Well I just heard that he had died while I was in Ireland and that he was buried at the City Cemetery without a Mass or anything. Well, I just spoke with his son who told me that Edith would not sell him a grave because, quote,
"We don't want any chinks up there!"
"Would you repeat what you just said?"
"We don't want any chinks up there!"
Father Parsons was even more stunned than Seamus. Finally he asked Seamus to wait in Valarrasa Hall while he spoke to Edith. He did not even go down to Edith's desk. Instead he yelled down the hall,
"Edith come here immediately!"
Because Seamus was behind several closed doors, he could not make out the words being said, but he could hear the yelling back and forth. Finally Father Parsons office opened and he heard him say to Edith,
"I want you out of here in fifteen minutes. Go!"
He slammed the door shut and Seamus decided that he as not going to move until he was sure that Edith was out of the office. When he heard to front door of the office slam shut, he ventured out and knocked on Father's Parsons' door.
"May I come in?"
"Seamus, sit down, please."
"Seamus, I could not believe my ears. She didn't even deny it. She admitted it proudly, so it seemed, that chinks should not be buried up at Saint Dominic's. I told her that such an attitude was not what we fund acceptable and that she would have to leave and leave immediately. I told her that everything we believe as Catholic proclaimed out faith that God was the Father of all people and that Christ died for all men. Chinese or American or Irish or Italian, it makes no difference. I told her that I couldn't tolerate another person, especially another Catholic, being treated that way. Seamus, You do not know how bad I feel about this. Now what are we going to do?"
"While I was in Vilarrasa Hall I was thinking about that. I think that we should move old Mr. Lee from the City Cemetery at our expense and bury him up at Saint Dominic's. I think that we should provide the grave without any charge to the Lees. Since it has been too long since he died, bringing the coffin to the Church might be difficult. Perhaps we could have a Mass at the outdoor Altar and then lay Mr. Lee to rest where he belongs. What do you think, Father?"
Father Parsons studied Seamus' face and finally said,
"You have my approval and my encouragement. Make the arrangements and please take care of this as soon as you can."
"Thank you, Father."
With that, Seamus left the office and returned to the Lee home. He explained to the Lees what the parish was proposing and asked for their permission to make the arrangements to transfer Mr. Lee to a new grave at Saint Dominic's Cemetery.
"But, sir, we cannot afford this. The City Cemetery was not cheap. We cannot pay the bills.
"Mr. Lee, the cemetery is paying for this. You were done a great injustice and while I cannot remove the shame you must feel at the evil way you were treated, I can make sure your father is buried where he belongs, with his brothers and sisters in Christ up at Saint Dominic's. Do I have your permission?"
Mr. Lee looked at the floor of his kitchen and quietly said,
"Mr. Gilchrist, you do my family a great honor. Thank you. You have my permission."
Seamus immediately went to Higgins' and asked Scott to make arrangements to move Mr. Lee from the City Cemetery to Saint Dominic's. He told Scott that any bills were to come to the Saint Dominic's Cemetery and not to the Lees.
"This is just a small way that we can apologize to the Lees for what they had to endure at their darkest hour."
Two weeks later old Mr. Lee was moved from the Benicia City Cemetery to Saint Dominic's. People from the parish had found out about the reburial and some sixty people joined the Lees for the Burial Mass at the outdoor altar. After the Burial Rite was completed, the Lees served some refreshments to the people who had joined them that day. When Seamus saw Mr. Lee start to hand out red envelopes, he took the red envelope from the first Asian burial he had ever been a part of. out of his pocket. Before Mr. Lee could say anything, he quietly handed the envelope to him and said,
"You will do me a great honor if you accept this envelope. I have had it in my desk for many years. Another family from somewhere in Asia gave it to me after their mother's funeral. I think I remember that they told me that this red envelope is a sign of friendship and respect. Please, take it and remember me in your prayers. I will certainly remember you."
Mr. Lee was speechless, but finally he bowed very deeply to Seamus and said,
"You do me the honor, my friend. Thank you!"
With that gesture, Seamus hoped that was had been a dark chapter in Saint Dominic's Cemetery history was now past. Now we would be better able to serve the community, the whole community!