Ministries at Sea
Burial at Sea
by Mary Louis Russley, OP
Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Autumn 2008. The telephone rang. A friend’s call from this seacoast town spoke of the untimely and unexpected death of our former Sister, Geremia Burke, OP. Margaret Mary Burke, “Peg” to many, was called home from her beloved Sprucewold, overlooking Boothbay Harbor.
A few years earlier when visiting with Geremia, she expressed her desire to be buried at sea though she knew no one who expressed a willingness to accommodate her wishes. Prompted by virtue of a challenge offered by a close friend, I promised I would. At once, when told of her death, I spoke of my earlier promise to her. I will always treasure within my heart the depth of the experience of being with her spirit when I cast her cremains into the watered cove beyond the rock-bound coastline of Sprucewold.
As part of my solemn duty to respect her wishes, I thought about an appropriate service at sea. She had a great love for the sea, its depth and vastness. It was the universe where her search for peace, truth, and God took form. She had traveled the world. To live in Maine along the sea was “Heuene” for her. There she lived beginning in 1999.
Eighteen of us and Geri’s beloved dog, PJ, left Boothbay Harbor port under a blue sky and calm waters and headed out to deeper waters. Cleared of the peninsula, we turned coveward to a site beyond her coastline cabin. From a distance, we observed other friends sharing their spirit of loss and friendship. We began with John Masefield’s, “I Must Go Down to the Sea,” and a prayer calling upon our God who calmed the chaos of the primeval waters and the stormy waters of the Sea of Galilee to give Geri the peace of her eternal rest.
Together we prayed Psalm 23. Mary Ellen Green, OP, introduced and read Bede Jarrett’s prayer. We shared stories and memories of Geri and blessed her cremains with Mound holy water before she was committed to the waters of the Maine coast. Flowers were scattered on the water. We prayed the Our Father and sang the “Song of Farewell.” Afterward, one of Geri’s friends spoke with me, “We could not have given her the depth of the service you prepared for her. It was her heritage as a Dominican and your friendship that gave her the honor she deserved. We are so grateful for her life with us and your presence here among us.”
Refuge at Sea
by Margaret Mary Griffin, OP
Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Winter 1996. The telephone rang. Rick, a parishioner of St. Christopher-by- the-Sea Church called, informing me, as pastoral minister, of an important message received from a Captain Fernando Paquntalan. His vessel, M/V Ocean Orchard, and crew were marooned and taking on water after surviving a storm of great intensity at sea which had threatened the safety of the seamen, the cargo, and the vessel itself. Listing into Dutch Harbor and under limited power, Capt. Paquntalan sought spiritual sustenance for himself and his crew in gratitude for being saved from almost certain death at sea.
He asked about the availability of Mass aboard his vessel. Distant some 800 miles from Anchorage and a priest, Rick and I responded to offer spiritual strength to the captain and his crew. Equipped with guitar, keyboard, Bible, candles, and the Eucharist, we sped away to the port site where the gangplank of M/V Ocean Orchid lay lowered to welcome us. There, in the galley of the vessel, we found the seamen awaiting our arrival, having gathered to pray in thanksgiving for their safe harbor.
Enroute to the site of the ailing vessel, I chose as a theme the “Storm at Sea.” Two volunteer Filipino seamen volunteered to read the Scriptures. My reflection, a series of questions to the seamen, surfaced responses to questions, including, “Why do you think God heard you and saved your lives at sea?” The men were moved to tears as they spoke of God’s love and care for them. Their responses to God’s call to them renewed and rekindled their spirits and faith. A communion service and private reflection followed. Rick and I accompanied their singing of “Save Your People, O Lord.” Gratitude for the spiritual care given the seamen was reflected in the March 15, 1996, postcard sent from the Port of Wakayama, Japan, by Capt. Paquntalan, which read, “Dear Sr. Peggy, Thanks and Praise the Lord. We arrived safely at this port. . . . Thank you so much for giving us your valuable moments on board. Your service of prayer and the ‘Words of God’ really did great things to us. I trust Him at all times and pour my heart before Him. He is a refuge for us. . . . God is loving and caring.”