Having just celebrated the memorial of St. Lucy, one of the patron saints of Sicily and the land of many of our parishioners’ ancestors, we turn our attention this weekend to that rather unique and intriguing island.  While many Catholics are aware of the catacombs of Rome (the ancient below ground caverns where many early Christians are buried and where many early Masses were celebrated), not nearly so many are aware of the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo.
 
    The Capuchin Catacombs were begun by the Franciscan friars in the late 16th century (1500’s) as a consequence of no more available burial space in the monastery’s cemetery.  Crypts were excavated below the cemetery and the church to provide for additional burials . The catacombs were originally only to be occupied by the bodies of deceased friars.  Over time, many of the wealthy and well –to-do of Palermo sought to be interred with the Capuchins as a type of status symbol.  The reason for this is that the friars had developed a mummification process that preserved many of the bodies.  In the wills of some Palermo residents was not only the desire to be buried in the catacombs, but also what they wished to wear and if they wanted their clothes changed at regular intervals . 
Relatives of the deceased would visit the catacombs to pray for the deceased and to maintain the bodies in “presentable condition.”  The catacombs were supported financially through donations made by the families of the deceased.  As long as the family donated the body would remain in its proper location, but if donations ceased the body was placed aside on a shelf until payments resumed.

      Burials continued in the catacombs until the 1920’s and 1930’s, although the last friar buried there occurred in 1871.  The catacombs closed officially in 1880.  Nevertheless, tourism continues there until today.  Photography is banned, however.  Approximately 8,000 corpses and 1,252 mummies are interred there.  Some of these are in posed positions and some are better preserved than others.  All serve as reminders of the link between life and death.  The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo are a bizarre part of our Church’s history-and something you need to know! 

- Fr. Hebert Bennerfield III