By Gia Myers • Posted July 24, 2024

The new construction at Our Lady of Grace Cemetery in Langhorne, Bucks County honors three saints and one soon-to-be-canonized saint, while adding a new columbarium for cremated remains and two new roads to enhance accessibility for visitors.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held July 1 with a blessing of the construction site by retired Auxiliary Bishop Michael J. Fitzgerald. Project completion is targeted for November 2024.

The columbarium will be named after the grandparents of Jesus, Sts. Anne and Joachim. It will be the second columbarium at the cemetery, located near the first,  named after the Blessed Virgin Mary and her husband St. Joseph.

In naming the second columbarium, “a family theme” was selected, says Msgr. Joseph Prior, Pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Penndel. The parish church is located about three miles from the parish cemetery.

All niches in the first columbarium were filled last May, as the parish had projected, and they started planning a few years ago to add a second columbarium.

In 2023, 39% of burials at Our Lady of Grace Cemetery were cremains.

Nationally, the cremation rate was 60.5% that same year, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. The organization  projects cremations will reach 81.4% by 2045. The cremation rate in the United States has been increasing steadily since 1975.

The Catholic Church has long taught that the human body is sacred and should be treated with respect after death. This teaching is based on the belief that the human body is created in the image and likeness of God, according to Genesis 1:27.

Cremation is permitted by the Catholic Church, though criteria exist for the treatment of cremains.

“Cremains are remnants of the human body. They should be buried in a sacred space,” says Msgr. Prior. “We have Catholic cemeteries to await the resurrection of our bodies.  The cemetery is a place of peace and hope.”

The cemetery is also adding two new roads to increase accessibility for funeral processions and other visitors. The new roads are to be named after St. Bernadette of Lourdes and Blessed Carlo Acutis, who is expected to be canonized a saint by the Church next year.

Last October, the parish had on display the traveling exhibit of Eucharistic miracles documented by Blessed Carlo. He was a devout Italian teenager who used his web designing skills to catalog both Eucharistic miracles and approved Marian apparitions before his death from leukemia at age 15.

The exhibit generated “a growing awareness of Carlo Acutis” among parishioners, says Msgr. Prior.

Since so many parishioners were touched by the story of Blessed Carlo and his exhibit last October, it was decided to name one cemetery road after him.  A month later, the second miracle needed for his canonization was approved by the Vatican.

“We’ll hold off on the road sign until he’s canonized,” says Msgr. Prior.

The name of St. Bernadette of Lourdes was selected for the other new cemetery road “because of her connection to the Blessed Mother,” he said.

Bernadette Soubirous – also known as St. Bernadette of Lourdes – was born in 1844. As a young teenager, she had a series of visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ultimately leading to the founding of the shrine at Lourdes, France. The shrine is a place of healing and miraculous cures, which millions of people visit each year.

Our Lady of Grace Cemetery – one of the largest parish cemeteries in the archdiocese – was established in 1947, and services southern Bucks County and Northeast Philadelphia.

“The way we keep [the grounds] has a symbolic quality to it,” says Msgr. Prior. “For both evangelizing purposes, as well as the care of the deceased and their loved ones who visit us.”

For more information on Our Lady of Grace Cemetery, visit https://olgparishpenndel.org/cemetery.