St. Joseph Columbarium

 The Columbarium Wall

A columbarium is a structure with niches, or compartments, for urns containing ashes of the dead. In Latin the word means dovecote, reminiscent of a structure that might house doves or homing pigeons. Traditionally graveyards were adjacent to church buildings but this practice is less and less practical in crowded communities of today.  The columbarium is a means by which one's remains may be kept in or near his or her parish church as an enduring place of rest.

The St. Joseph Columbarium has a total of 1285 niches.  Each niche is designed to hold the creamins of two people. It was dedicated on February 22, 2003.

A Little History

In the 1960s, the church recognized cremation as an alternative to the more traditional and widely accepted burial.  Although accepted, creamins continued to be banned from the church.  Since 1997 permission has been granted to Bishops to perform funeral masses in the presence of cremains.  However, grieving witht eh body present over several days can help people deal with their loss and is recommended.