Every Memorial Day, hundreds gather at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Cincinnati to remember the military men and women who served our country.

The field Mass at Gate of Heaven is Monday May 26, 2025  Presentation at 10:30 a.m. Field Mass with Archbishop Robert G. Casey, Celebrant 11:00 a.m., Patriot Rosary at 12:30 p.m.  in Section 28, Veterans Garden.

Calvary Cemetery in Dayton will have their Memorial Day Mass, Sunday, May 25 at 10:00 a.m. Fr. Gene Contadino Celebrant.

The event began when a father wrote to Father Norbert J. Miller, then director of Gate of Heaven, in March of 1948, said Kate Thesing, Gate of Heaven’s community outreach coordinator.

“This father’s son was a Lieutenant in World War II and was lost in the Pacific, killed in action Feb. 5, 1945,” Thesing said. “[The] father wanted to purchase a lot on the sacred grounds to be ready as he and his wife waited for the remains of their son to be brought back home that summer of 1948.”

At the time, Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day, established on May 30, 1868, for the Civil War’s fallen soldiers. With the burial of the young soldier and others who served America at war, Gate of Heaven started its own tradition for a remembrance Mass on Decoration Day.

In 1968, 100 years after Decoration Day’s creation, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act that established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May. Decades later, the Memorial Day Mass at Gate of Heaven Cemetery continues, with more than 700 attendees expected this year on May 30.

Participants are asked to arrive early for parking and to bring a lawn chair. In case of rain, the Mass will move to Good Shepherd Parish at 8815 E Kemper Rd., Cincinnati.

“We want to stress that anybody’s welcome,” said Jordan. “[It’s] a good way to start the holiday weekend and pay honor to the veterans. And, there’s no better way to start the day than with Mass.”