St. Bernard Cemetery Columbarium Memorial Garden
The construction of a Columbarium Memorial Garden is well underway at St. Bernard Cemetery. It has been designed to provide a peaceful, contemplative, attractive environment for parishioners to pray for their deceased loved ones. The Memorial Garden will include an area for in-ground cremains, as well as columbaria (structures where the cremated ashes of the deceased are placed in an urn and then into a secure niche in the columbarium, similar to the one shown on the right).
In the past, most people wanted full-body burials in a traditional casket; however, today the majority of people request cremation. We are developing the Columbarium Memorial Garden to provide a final resting place for these departed that is consistent with Catholic teaching on cremations.
The Memorial Garden, which will also include granite benches, statues, and flowering trees and shrubs, will extend the life of the Cemetery by over 100 years by reducing the amount of space for burials. The first columbarium has been installed.
The Historical portion of the cemetery is fully utilized, so we have expanded additional sections in the “New” portion of the cemetery. We have cleared some of the wooded area directly opposite the Kingsbury Avenue entrance to the cemetery. The picture to the left shows the memorial garden as it will look in several years as we install additional columbaria as the need to accommodate cremains develops. The entire area can hold up to 55 columbaria, each with 64-96 two-urn niches.
Opportunities for Giving
Columbarium Memorial Garden
All costs have been rising and those for the Memorial Garden are no different. We want this area of our cemetery to be a beautiful and restful place for all visitors. To defray the cost of establishing the Memorial Garden, we are providing several opportunities for parishioners to donate funds towards this exciting project.
Our greatest need is for general landscaping such as the walkway, altar area, shrubs, trees and flowers. There are also opportunities to donate specific items such as granite benches, statues or even a complete columbarium (eventually there will be several in the garden as the need increases.) To donate please contact Peter LaPlaca [860-916-3547] or Phil Cardone [860-874-6939].
Listen to the short video below about the Columbarian installation underway: