| Our Mission
Statement At the death of a Christian
… the Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased because
of its confident belief that death is not the end nor does
it break the bonds forged in life. The Church also ministers
to the sorrowing and consoles them in the funeral rites. (OCF
4)
•WE ACKNOWLEDGE that the Catholic Cemetery, in the rich
tradition of our faith, is a sacred place and the resting
place of those who have died.
•Since in baptism the body was marked with the seal
of the Trinity and became the temple of the Holy Spirit, Christians
respect and honor the bodies of the dead and the places where
they rest. (OCF 19)
•WE ARE DEDICATED to the reverential care of the bodies
of those who have died, who, even in death, remain part of
the Catholic Church.
•WE Believe in and are firmly committed to the teachings
and the tradition of the Catholic Church with regard to the
deceased and the sacredness of the cemeteries in which their
bodies rest.
• The community of faith proclaims that the grave or
place of interment, once a sign of futility and despair, has
been transformed by means of Christ’s own death and
resurrection into a sign of hope and promise. (OCF 209)
• WE ARE COMMITTED to the care of the graves and crypts
of those who have been entrusted to us.
• WE WILL PROMOTE prayer in memory of the departed and
for the healing of the living through the celebration of the
Eucharist and other opportunities for prayer in the Catholic
Tradition in the cemetery.
• WE WILL CONSOLE the bereaved through words and works.
• WE CONFIRM our responsibility for stewardship of the
resources of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and our fulfillment
of the Church’s mission under the direction of the Bishop
of Rockville Centre.
•WE ACKNOWLEDGE our role as custodians of historical
records, and will use methods and technology to assure their
preservation.
• Lord, for your faithful people, life is changed not
ended. (Preface, Funeral Mass)
• WE WILL REACH OUT to the community to promote Catholic
teachings relating to suffering, death, burial and remembrance
of those who have died.
• WE WILL PROCLAIM through our words, work and example,
the sacredness of all life, respect for the body.
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