Annual St. Mary Basilica and Assumption Church Cemetery Procession

St. Mary Basilica’s All Souls Procession
1861 to 2011 Reader: Mrs. Robert Martello
Welcome
to St. Mary Basilica’s 150 years of celebrating our deceased loved ones--the All Souls Day Procession.

It all started in 1861. As the Civil War was beginning, Bishop Elder realized that Plot 1, where you are now standing, was filling up--don’t forget that our early church members from Spanish Days were being transferred from the graveyard where the basilica grounds are located. (The Catholic Board of Trustees bought this ground in 1823 just as The Natchez Cemetery opens.)

The 1861 church announcement reads: .”...the congregation gathered at the old Catholic cemetery, chanted vespers for the dead, processed to the new section reciting the litany of the saints, and then blessed the cross in the new section...”

J.E.Guercio November 6, 2011
Chairman for StMBA