On Aug. 18, dozens of people armed themselves with spray bottles or small hoses, scrub brushes or toothbrushes, and took on the task of cleaning gravestones in St. Augustine Cemetery.

A handful of these volunteers were members of the Northeast New England chapter of the Association for Gravestone Studies, but the majority were locals or parishioners of the Gate of Heaven and St. Brigid Parish Collaborative, of which St. Augustine Chapel and Cemetery is a part. Notable among the volunteers were Ray Flynn, former mayor of Boston and former ambassador to the Vatican, his wife Kathy Flynn, and Congressman Stephen Lynch.