Madeline Aguilar considers herself blessed.

The mother of seven has 22 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren and friendships too numerous to count.

A member of St. Joseph Parish in Sacramento, she was raised in a Catholic home where friends and relatives frequently gathered for both the celebrations of life and the sacred rites for Christian burial.

The family is comfortable coming together on familiar ground at St. Mary Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum in Sacramento, where they have gathered at burial services for her parents, two sisters, a brother, two grandsons and friends.

“We grew up in a close-knit community and that community was always present for burial services,” Aguilar said. “Being surrounded there by the symbols of our faith represented our life growing up.”

Members of the Aguilar family make regular visits to St. Mary Cemetery on holidays and significant dates in the lives of family members who have died.

“We make rounds and bring along flowers. It’s so good to be able to go there and sit and chat, like time doesn’t exist,” Aguilar said.

As one of the diocese’s nine Catholic cemeteries located in communities from Nevada to Solano counties, St. Mary Cemetery is a resting place for those who have died, and a place of prayer and reflection for those who come to remember.

“A priest may go and bless a grave in a secular cemetery, but we’re talking about whole Catholic cemeteries that have been blessed and made sacred,” said Philip Niederberger, director of Catholic Cemeteries for the diocese.

Over the past three years, Niederberger and his staff have visited nearly 30 parishes to get out the word about Catholic cemeteries and dispel some common misconceptions. One is that their ministry to families stops with the graveside service.

“Part of our core ministry as counselors to families involves helping them with the challenges they have ahead of them...from the time of death and for many months afterward,” Niederberger said.

He explained that the cemeteries department is trying to do “a better job of communicating with our Catholic community” what the church does and doesn’t allow.

One example is the misperception by the public in general and Catholics in particular that non-Catholics, divorced Catholics and suicide victims may not be buried in a Catholic cemetery.

One of the biggest myths regarding burial in Catholic cemeteries, Niederberger said, is that cremation is forbidden by the church.

“When we do our parish visits and are invited to speak at Mass, almost without exception Catholics will approach us with stories of how they have cremated remains in their homes, on their mantels, in closets,” he said. “They really want to put their loved ones to rest in a Catholic cemetery.”

In keeping with the precept that the body serves as a temple of the Holy Spirit, Niederberger said, the church urges the body of the deceased be present for funeral rites and views the practice of spreading of ashes as “incompatible philosophically and spiritually with what we want to see happen with cremated remains.”

Another misconception is that burial arrangements at Catholic cemeteries, at least in the diocese, are more costly than at secular cemeteries.

“We have a mandate from Bishop (William) Weigand to keep our costs competitive with our secular competition so Catholic families are comfortable the church is providing a valuable, not excessive service,” Niederberger said.

According to Neiderberger, the cost of such expenses as graves and crypts in Catholic cemeteries in the diocese are typically 30 to 60 percent less expensive than their secular counterparts.

In making parish presentations, staff of Catholic Cemeteries stress that making decisions on a final resting place should not become guesswork left to loved ones.

“Just as people develop a financial plan to retire, they should be developing a plan for funeral and burial,” Niederberger said. “Loved ones can concentrate on the respect of their loved ones rather than guessing what they might have wanted.”

Pre-need or advance planning programs available in the diocese’s Catholic cemeteries reflect the department’s effort to move from being “a reactive to being a pro-active ministry that is cost effective,” he said.

People in the diocese who take advantage of the pre-need program typically save 10 to 15 percent on burial costs and are given up to three years interest free on payments if they make their burial arrangements ahead of time.

Niederberger also has the responsibility of maintaining and restoring several of the diocese’s historic pioneer cemeteries which date back to the mid-1850s. The oldest, St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery in Grass Valley, was established in 1855 and is currently inactive.

Because so many relatives of pioneer families buried at the St. Patrick have died or moved away, the cemeteries department is involved in rebuilding and restoring monuments that have deteriorated or been knocked over in car accidents.

At St. Vincent de Paul Church in Rancho Murieta, a mission of St. Joseph Parish in Elk Grove, members of the church community have played a major role in reactivating St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Cemetery, first established in 1870.

“We’ve gone in and with the help of the congregation and volunteers from the community, have helped restore the cemetery,” Niederberger said.

This fall the department announced a multi-million dollar construction program to build three new Catholic mausoleums. The project involves building the St. Theresa wing at Calvary Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, the Holy Family East Garden at St. Mary Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, both in Sacramento, and the Chapel of the Apostles at All Souls Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum in Vallejo. The phased project calls for building more than 2,000 crypts at the three cemeteries.

“We can add life to the cemeteries by building mausoleums,” explained Niederberger, with regard to the need to build above ground in cemeteries located on property that has little or no remaining space below ground.

He emphasized that the project is also addressing what an increasing number of Catholic families want.

“The European influence where mausoleums are very popular has impacted the tastes and values of many of our families,” he said.

Catholic Cemeteries expects to break ground on the mausoleum project in 18 to 24 months, when sales of crypts can cover construction costs.

For more information about burial options, call Catholic Cemeteries at (916) 733-0248.

Copyright © 2003 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved