Blessing of the Mausoleum at Springvale Cemetery

Address Given by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Springvale Cemetery
on Tuesday, 4th October, 2005, at 2.00pm

Introduction

Dear Friends,

I am honoured to be with the cemetery authorities, with families of the deceased, and so many friends, as we bless this mausoleum.

It is a moment of special remembrance, of prayer for the dead and of appreciation of the service, which our cemeteries and their staff provide to people in moments of loss and grief.

My presence as Archbishop is intended to reflect the Catholic faith in life after death and the value of prayer for the dead, as well as underlining the importance of support for those who have undergone huge changes in their lives through bereavement.

This simple service will, I hope, draw people together in a common purpose of respect for the gift of life, appropriate farewell to the dead and respect for sacred places of burial, such as this cemetery, which has for so long been an important part of Melbourne.

Homily

“It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins.” (2 Maccabees 12.45)

Dear Friends,

It is with sentiments of esteem and honour that I come to bless this mausoleum. We understand that when a person dies, he or she has come to a place of rest and we pray that the Lord may welcome them to their true home. Jesus Christ, our Lord, died and rose again and it is our faith that all who believe in him will rise again on the last day. Until that time they are supported by our love and our prayers.

My pastoral understanding also is that in the respect which is shown by staff and cemetery authorities and by all who use this mausoleum, these burial places are sacred places of memory, of persons who lived and worked and rested, recreated, laughed and cried, and whose life is a great enrichment to us in our journey.

We can say in a society, such as ours, that our life is built on the lives of those who have gone before and in remembering them we thank God for their lives, for what they have given us and have given society, while at the same time we pray for peace and repose for their souls. When we come to their place of burial our remembering them can help us to focus on the purpose of our own life and the need that we have, each, to make our contribution to the world of those around about us.

Truly, with Saint Paul, we can show to the world the reason for the hope that we have, both in the value of each human life, from birth to natural death, but also of the Christian challenge that each of us is invited to make; a contribution to the building up of that world. Jesus is resurrection and life. He provides us with a vision of the purpose of our life and the contribution we can make.

Today, in blessing this mausoleum, I pray for those who are or who will be buried in it. I remember especially that the Lord will bless and strengthen those recently bereaved who have loved ones buried here and that this will continue to be a place of love, memory, light and peace.

For me, cemeteries have always been a place where the turmoil of life is laid aside and life takes on its true dimension and rest gives way to peace, suffering gives way to rest, uncertainty gives way to hope in eternal life.

May all who rest here, rest in peace, and may the Lord who is the resurrection and the life grant comfort to all who come here.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.