Because of the corona pandemic, All Saints' Day is a little different this year than usual.
An overview of the various processes in the Dachau district.
District
- On All Saints' Day, it is a tradition that has become very popular for many people to go to the cemetery with the family and to commemorate the deceased relatives at the grave blessing.
But this year, due to the corona pandemic, different procedures adapted to local circumstances will apply almost everywhere.
There will be no grave blessing at the community cemetery in Karlsfeld.
The relatives are invited to pray at the graves of their deceased and to bless them themselves.
Prayer texts and holy water are made available on All Saints' Day in the churches and at the cemetery.
In order to avoid crowds, prayers and grave blessings are also canceled in the parish association of Fahrenzhausen-Haimhausen in all cemeteries.
"We bless the graves before Sunday and invite you to watch the impulse for the grave blessing on the parish association's YouTube channel," said pastoral advisor Bernhard Skrabal.
This prayer is played at the Haimhausen community cemetery on a screen at the morgue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can also be followed at the grave by smartphone.
There will be traditional blessings in the other cemeteries in the county, albeit in a different form.
Everywhere you have to keep your distance, wear masks and avoid crowds of people.
In the Hilgertshausen-Tandern parish association, church visitors are asked to remain seated in the church while the pastors perform the grave blessing.
Only then should the graves be visited.
In the parish association of Odelzhausen, the graves will be blessed from a central location, there will be no usual route around the graves.
And in the Parish Association of Peterhausen-Vierkirchen-Weichs, Pastor Peter Dietz asks that if possible only two or three believers stand directly at the grave, because the cemeteries are often quite cramped.
"Other relatives can perhaps stand at a distance or visit the grave outside of the celebration."
The pastors may only perform the grave blessing from the main routes.
"But even a grave that is not directly wetted by the holy water is blessed," emphasizes Dietz.
Pastor Michael Bartmann from the Röhrmoos-Hebertshausen Parish Association expressly asks for mutual consideration.
There will be a brief commemoration of the dead in the cemeteries followed by a grave blessing.
“But I don't recommend going there,” says Bartmann firmly.
It is important not to infect each other.
The pastor's blessing "also applies when nobody is standing at the grave," says Bartmann.
The families should rather visit the graves during the day, say a prayer themselves and make the sign of the cross.
"That's just as valuable, even more valuable."