Memorial Day: Historic St. Agnes Cemetery has many modern touches

The top of these hills is a perfect spot to visit if one wishes to see across the valley as far as the foothills of the Berkshires in Massachusetts. More importantly, it is a place where people have come for the past 134 years to bury their dead, grieve, meditate, or just experience an idyllic setting of peace and tranquility.

Throughout the cemetery stand impressive family burial vaults, age-encrusted headstones and individual memorials that tell stories of how people lived and died.

Beginnings

According to Andrew Linehan, manager of St. Agnes, the cemetery was developed as the result of an effort during the latter half of the 19th century to reawaken an appreciation of nature through landscaping that provided a garden-like setting.

St. Agnes was designed to offer a rural sanctuary of peace and tranquility for people who came to visit burial sites there. Trees were planted then that stand like giant sentinels now, their regal branches protecting the historic monuments, tombs and headstones.

Holy ground

His words describe Catholic burial as outlined by the Code of Canon Law, a process that is a Corporal Work of Mercy. He and his staff believe they perform an important ministry of service to the faithful of the Diocese.

In line with that, Mr. Linehan has spent the last five years developing programs to meet the changing needs of families who come to St. Agnes to bury their loved ones.

Changes

Mr. Linehan told The Evangelist that the building was renovated to make the office and reception area a more suitable place for families to plan funerals and burials without distraction. A comfortably furnished conference room, separate from the reception and office area, has been designed with the needs of grieving families in mind.

"We wanted to provide a comfortable, home-like setting," he indicated.

In addition, a room for research has been provided for those interested in investigating their family histories. According to Mr. Linehan, many people call or visit each year to search for information on their ancestors. They are given access to whatever burial information is in the archives, also located in the office.

Services

Other resources include a biannual newsletter, ADC News; an assortment of pamphlets that address choices of diocesan cemeteries and types of interment; and a short video describing cemetery services. A large, modern chapel is available for prayer services, Masses and meditation.

"We help people prepare for death and provide an opportunity for anyone who wishes to plan burial arrangements in advance," Mr. Linehan explained. "We perform our ministry with the needs of the Catholic community first and foremost in our minds."

Much to do

"Our cemetery is designed as a dynamic system, a continuing process of evolution," said Mr. Linehan, explaining that in order to meet the diverse burial needs of families today, his staff -- along with Richard Touchette, diocesan director of Cemeteries -- has developed a program offering varied burial options.

The options include traditional, outdoor grave burial with an above-ground marker, lawn crypt gardens, cremation, memorials, private mausoleum and family heritage lots, and interment in the community mausoleum.

Master plan

* Development of a reclaimed area of the cemetery called the St. Francis of Assisi Lawn Crypts and Resurrection Cremation Urn Garden, 85 percent of which has already been sold. This area provides a natural setting with mature trees and a stream that flows through a ravine.

* Rachel's Garden, dedicated by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard last September, is a place of prayer and reflection set aside for those touched by the death of a child through miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion or infant death.

* Albany Medical College Anatomical Gift program, which provides services for those who have made an organ donation.

* Tree of Remembrance, a one-time donation that combines the purchase and planting of a sugar maple, Norway maple or pin oak sapling in the cemetery. It includes a commemorative bronze plaque installed at the base of the tree for remembrance of a loved one.

(A garden club has recently been formed to help keep the garden-like setting of the cemetery on a year-round basis. The St. Agnes Garden Club and Flower Fund program is looking for volunteers who wish to donate their time to plant and maintain ornamental gardens throughout the cemetery. Call Andrew Linehan at 463-0134.)

(05-24-01) [[In-content Ad]]