Our Lady of the Pillar observes Memorial Day

June 22, 2017


FATHER GABRIEL WANKAR WASHES VESSELS AT MEMORIAL DAY MASS, MAY 29, AT OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR CEMETERY,  HALF MOON BAY. (COURTESY PHOTO)

Mass was celebrated at all the archdiocesan cemeteries May 29 to commemorate Memorial Day and the lives it remembers. Worship sites included Our Lady of the Pillar Cemetery in Half Moon Bay where Father Gabriel Wankar, a parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Pillar Parish, was principal celebrant and homilist.

“It was quite cold and rainy but I was inspired by the number of people who were able to be at the Mass,” Father Wankar told Catholic San Francisco. More than 100 people were in the assembly.

The Knights of Columbus are pivotal to the annual liturgy, Father Wankar said. “The Knights set up the Mass site and serve as ministers of the Mass,” he said. Father Wankar was also grateful for refreshments after the Mass made possible by the cemetery department.

Father Wankar’s homily thanked and remembered the “men and women who have served in our armed forces” as well as those whose help is felt behind the front lines, he said.

Other Mass sites included Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma; Holy Cross Cemetery, Menlo Park; and Mount Olivet Cemetery, San Rafael. With the exception of Holy Cross, Colma, where Mass was celebrated in Holy Cross Mausoleum, the Masses were celebrated outdoors.