Rocky patch of land where infants were lost to time now consecrated ground

For generations, people in the community of Weymouth Falls have whispered behind closed doors about infants being carried into a small wooded area near the local church, never to be seen again.

"It was not always talked about but it was known," said Rev. Laura McCue of St. Matthews Anglican Church. "Everybody knew that there were babies buried in this little woods."

On Sunday, St. Matthews held a special ceremony to remember many infants who died during and after birth who were not able to be buried in family plots.

In an effort to rectify the past, McCue consecrated the small plot where many of those children were buried in unmarked graves.

"After the ceremony, a woman came to me, shook my hand, and said, 'I wish my mother were alive to see this,'" said McCue.

"She said, 'I have two siblings buried in these woods and my mother used to stand here, looking in the woods, and wonder where they are.'"

In the past, St. Matthews, like many other Anglican churches, would not allow anyone who was not baptized to be buried on consecrated ground. That included children who died before baptism.

"When we look back we realize we made a mistake," McCue said. "We weren't perfect. Nobody is. These rules served a purpose at the time, but they had a consequence and that consequence drove a wedge between a lot of people."

The rules forced many families to bury their deceased children in unmarked graves on a small plot of land that had no pathways and was covered in brush and trees.

"It is not what I would call a hospitable place," said McCue. "It's full of jagged rock and isn't noticeable … it's not like some place you would go for a walk."

The invisible graveyard is located only a few yards from the consecrated church grounds.

In July, church wardens Juanita Peters and Amoretta Price, along with McCue, decided it was time to turn whispers into praise.

"That child is known to God," said McCue. "Who are we to judge? It's not the child's fault it didn't live. So, for me, I had tears in my eyes for most the service."

The ceremony occurred in conjunction with a church service held for the annual Weymouth Falls reunion, an event that calls home families from across North America.

There were more than 85 people at service, many of whom have relatives buried in the tiny wooded plot.

"When we unveiled the stone you should have seen the flash bulbs going off," said McCue. "Everybody wanted a photograph to take home of the little headstone. And when they saw the words, 'Angels Remembered,' there was kind of a gasp."

'Angels Remembered' 

McCue says this isn't the first time she has heard of this happening.

"I've seen this in other parishes and I am aware of the hurt, the lingering hurt, it causes," she said.

McCue said there was a lot of shame in losing a child which would be compounded by grief.

"We are all God's children and I believe this should have happened a long time ago," said Peters. 

A small plot was cleared on the grounds and Peters, Price and McCue came across a small stone with a carving of an angel holding a lamb.

They decided that would be a fitting image to put on the plaque. That is when Peters came up with the 'Angels Remembered' to go along with it. 

McCue said when Peters suggested that name they all looked at each other and knew that it was what the plaque needed to say. 

"Angels Remembered, that is perfect, because we don't have a list of who is buried there, we don't have names and in some cases they didn't even have names," she said. 

'Baby Jarvis' 

Phyllis Moore is a descendent of the Jarvis family, one of the church's founding African-Nova Scotian families.

Two years before she was born, her mother gave birth to a little girl who did not survive and was not given a name. 

"All she was called was Baby Jarvis," said Moore.

Moore's sister never received the chance to become baptized. Like many infants before her, she was carried lovingly into the woods.

"My mother always told us she was buried on the fence line, but there was no definite mark as to where she was buried," said Moore. 

She travelled from her home in Oklahoma to Weymouth Falls for the reunion, unaware her sister hadn't been buried on consecrated ground.

She stood near where her sister would have been buried as McCue performed the ceremony.

"It was wonderful. It means that she is not just an outcast, that she is in the family and in a sacred place. It's just a good feeling," said Moore. 

"This is very important; should have been done years ago," she said. 

Change in the church 

McCue believes if women were leaders in the church at the time the practice would never have happened.

"How could you, as a woman, look at another woman and say, 'I won't bury your child,'" she said. 

She says it is a sign of change within the church. 

Although the past can't be changed, she hopes this event can bring back parishioners the church may have lost.

"When you forget to be compassionate a lot of hurt can happen and that hurt carried on generation after generation," she said.