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Thousands of waiting visitors are urged to come on other days.
But for those who want to remember their loved ones during All Saints’ Day, Malmö cemeteries are open 24 hours a day during the weekend.
– We as a church must stand up for what we stand for: that there is eternal hope and that we are not alone in pain and darkness, says Gudrun Erlanson, interim pastor in Malmö.
Cemeteries are facing a hiatus this year, but Halloween weekend will be different this year due to coronary heart disease.
Thousands of people are expected to visit the cemeteries next weekend.
But the crown year 2020 also affects All Saints’ Day.
– We used to invite everyone who lost a family member during the year to a memorial service in the different churches. This year, it will only be exceptional where possible given the participation limit, says Vicar Gudrun Erlanson.
The churches, however, will be open for the possibility of lighting candles and praying. Most of the services will be performed digitally, for physical ones the maximum limit of 50 people applies.
– We are part of a long chain of generations and visits to cemeteries express our need for context.
Gudrun Erlanson says that All Saints Day is also a feast of hope.
All Saints’ Day is marked by sadness and longing for those who are no longer with us. For some, the pain is still new and perhaps painful. For others, it’s more about memories and gratitude, explains the vicar.
– When I see the “garden of light” in the darkness of sunset, I not only see the darkness and the inevitable conditions of life that we must separate. I also remember the light that removes the edge of the darkness, the hope of a future in good conservation with God, says Gudrun Erlanson.
Malmö Cemetery Manager Sven-Erik Perlman Aspeklev says that cemeteries in Malmö and the rest of the country experience the interruption of visits this year on All Saints’ Day.
– For Malmö, it is about many thousands of visitors, he says.
This year, coffee and cakes will not be served in cemetery tents, as in previous years.
Cemetery staff will use pins to remind them of the importance of keeping their distance.
Anyone who wants to visit a cemetery to remember or bring a flower or grave lantern can do so.
The director of the Malmö cemetery, Sven-Erik Perlman Aspeklev.
Visitors are encouraged to stay a little shorter in memorial groves or around chandeliers in churches if possible, so more people have access and congestion is reduced.
– But we recommend that you do not come on Saturday, but choose another day, says Sven-Erik Perlman Aspeklev.
All Saints in Malmö, Lund and Skanör / Falsterbo
Malmö cemeteries are open 24 hours a day, from 07:00 to 15:00 on Friday to 21:00 on Sunday.
On Saturday, there are memorial services, at 4:18 p.m., in Skanör and Falsterbo. On Sunday, there is a music service at the church in Falsterbo at 6pm.
Norra kyrkogården in Lund is open until 9pm on Friday October 30th and has been open from Saturday 07-21 to Saturday October 31st.
