Blessing of the Burial Mausoleum at Melbourne General Cemetery

Address given by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Melbourne General Cemetery
on Tuesday, 7th December, 2004, at 4.00pm

...

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am truly indebted to the Trustees of the Melbourne General Cemetery for the construction of this Mausoleum for burial of the dead.

Australia is a very multicultural country and many of the people coming here have brought important traditions of respect for the dead and love and prayer for them.

Our Christian faith says that in life each of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit and God remains with us and in us as long as we live. From the moment of death, while our spirit departs from our body, due respect is appropriate.

A place of burial, such as this, enables families to gather and remember their loved ones with esteem and with human gratitude. It enables them to pray for the repose of their souls. Our Christian faith is that they can be brought more swiftly to be with God, purified from any sin and imperfection, if they are accompanied by Christian prayer.

I am grateful to the Cemetery for providing a worthy place of burial, a place of remembrance and prayer. Indeed, our Church teaches that the bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity in faith and hope of the resurrection. It underlines that the burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy; it honours the children of God, who are temples of the Holy Spirit.

In a society where there is increasing disregard for the uniqueness and individuality of each person, for the sacredness and spiritual nature which we have, the presence of this Mausoleum is a telling reminder and an encouragement for respect, prayer and hope.

As the Book of Wisdom says:

“The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God,
No torment shall ever touch them.
In the eyes of the unwise, they did appear to die,
Their going looked like a disaster,
Their leaving us, like annihilation;
But they are in peace.” ( Wisdom 3.1-3 )
May this place be always one of rest, thankfulness, forgiveness and hope.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.