Calvary Cemetery will accept cremated remains for entombment without cost on All Souls Day
Director: new service is corporal work of mercy
LINCOLN (SNR) – Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum in Lincoln is offering a new service to provide a dignified and permanent place of rest at no cost for the cremated remains of anyone, regardless of faith, at Calvary’s “All Souls Memorial Crypt.”
The burial service will take place on All Souls Day, Saturday, Nov. 2, at 10 a.m. at Calvary, 3880 L St., Lincoln.
Those who wish to use this service for the cremated remains of deceased loved ones will need to contact Calvary before that day to fill out the appropriate documents, without which the interment cannot take place. Calvary can be reached at 402-476-8787.
Cremated remains will be accepted by Calvary Cemetery only on the day of the service, between 9 and 9:50 a.m. Because the crypt can be opened only at that time, if for any reason the cremated remains are not on site in time, the opportunity would not be available again until All Souls Day 2020.
“Burial of the deceased is not just a nice thing to do; it is a corporal work of mercy, as taught by our Catholic faith,” said Msgr. Timothy Thorburn, director of Calvary Catholic Cemetery & Mausoleum in Lincoln. He referred to the Catechism of the Catholic Church which lists the works of mercy in #2447.
While families can choose to have their loved ones’ cremated remains entombed without cost in the All Souls Remembrance Crypt, also available are more personal, individual niches provided at an affordable cost.
“We want to make it easy for people to have the cremated remains of their loved ones permanently entombed. We are providing a dignified place where loved ones can come to pray and remember.” Msgr. Thorburn said. “This is a service we are making available in accord with the respect we give, as Catholics, for bodies that will rise again on the last day.”
Once a year, he explained, Calvary will receive the cremated remains of people – no pets, please – and “reverently provide them with a permanent place of rest.”
“We do this for families of any faith or no faith who are in possession of unburied remains,” he said. “The cremated remains will be placed in this special mausoleum crypt along with our prayers for the happy repose of the ones who died, and for consolation of their families and friends.”
Likewise, he continued, “funeral directors in possession of cremated remains that have gone unclaimed are welcome to bring them to the All Souls Memorial Crypt for permanent and reverent disposition on All Souls Day... This is especially a unique opportunity for families that otherwise would not be in a position to afford the cost of burial or entombment.”
Although preferring the burial or entombment of the body, Catholic belief permits cremation as long as cremation is not chosen to express disbelief the resurrection of the body, as was sometimes the case in the past. Catholic teaching requires that cremated remains be buried or entombed, preferably at a consecrated place, to await the day of their rising.
It is contrary to the reverence for the faithful departed to “hold on to” cremated remains, scatter them or “part them out” as jewelry or other items made from the ashes.
“While alive, the body was a temple of the Holy Spirit. In death, it retains the dignity of having been a receptacle of the very Spirit of God.” Msgr. Thorburn said. “The practice of scattering the ashes of the deceased or even having memento items of made from ashes is considered to be disrespectful to the dead, bordering on sacrilegious,” he explained. “This is because the body of a Christian was consecrated in baptism in the Name of the Holy Trinity. As the Trinity is One and cannot be divided, so the body, cremated or not, should never be intentionally divided or dispersed.
“Burial or entombment provides a place where survivors can come to mourn and pray, as well as remember the happy and blessed times,” he continued. “Although there will be not be a notation of names on the crypt itself, those who wish can purchase a brick inscribed with the name of their loved one that will be placed near the All Souls Memorial Crypt.”
Families who have unburied cremated remains of their loved ones can work with Calvary staff to have the remains entombed without cost in the All Souls Memorial Crypt. However, families may also wish to consider the option of obtaining a personal place of disposition in the ground or in a columbarium niche. Services for these burial options can take place on most days, except Sundays and solemn feast days. Many options are available, including those at a modest cost.
Calvary Cemetery will properly record the names of all whose remains are interred in the All Souls Memorial Crypt. Each Friday, anyone may participate at a Mass celebrated at 12:15 p.m. at St. Charbel Mausoleum Chapel for all who are laid to rest at Calvary Cemetery.
“A Catholic Cemetery is a consecrated and sacred place for loved ones to be buried,” Msgr. Thorburn said. “To have a loved one there is more than a public memorial. Rather, it is a faithful decision to reverently place the deceased in holy ground to surrender them into the merciful hands of the Savior. Even though the body may be buried, the soul lives. Those who have gone before us continue to be living members of the Body of Christ, the Church.
“As we were taught as children,” he said, “the living on earth are members of the Church Militant, the souls in Purgatory are the Church Suffering and those in Heaven are the Church Triumphant, yet all are united in prayer and love of God. This new service that Calvary Cemetery is providing, to permanently place cremated remains in a consecrated crypt, honors their memory and joins them in looking forward, in blessed hope, for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
