Our Mother of Sorrows Chapel at St. Joseph Cemetery on Columbus’ south side is undergoing a $300,000, five-month makeover that will make it much brighter inside and will return a reproduction of Michelangelo’s Pieta to its former place of prominence above the altar.
Diocesan cemeteries director Rich Finn said the renovation began in June and was to be completed by Tuesday, Nov. 1, All Saints Day.
“Most of the changes we’re making are simple things, such as interior cleaning, painting the rafters, staining wood, refinishing pews and waxing, cleaning and sealing floors,” Finn said.
“The chapel also is adding energy-efficient LED lighting, and the brightness this will bring will be the most noticeable change. The chapel is built of dark wood and dark red brick, which couldn’t be painted to make it brighter, so it’s always been somewhat dark inside. That effect will disappear with the new lighting.
“The Pieta had been moved to the side in an earlier remodeling, and it will be back above the altar again. Since the chapel is mainly used for funeral Masses and committal services, it’s a fitting place for a statue of Mary holding the crucified Jesus, depicting her title of Our Mother of Sorrows.”
A storage closet is being placed in the former location of a confessional. This will enlarge the sacristy, providing more room for storage of sacred vessels and vestments and giving priests a larger area to meet and provide counsel to people before and after funerals.
A new restroom area will consist of one unisex room with handicapped accessibility, new tile flooring and new fixtures.
Improvements to the chapel’s exterior began two years ago with roof repairs and tuckpointing. In 2023, maintenance and repair work on the chapel’s stained-glass windows, including the addition of energy-efficient acrylic covers, will take place.
“The windows are in good shape. This work and the other things we’re in the midst of doing will help the chapel remain structurally sound for another 93 years or more,” said Deacon Jeffrey Fortkamp, assistant diocesan cemeteries director.
Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel is located on the grounds of St. Joseph Cemetery on Columbus’ south side. CT photo by Ken Snow
The chapel was built in 1929 and served as a parish church from 1947 to 1970. St. Joseph Cemetery, the largest of four diocesan cemeteries, is located at 6440 S. High St., on U.S. Route 23 at the southern edge of Franklin County. The original cemetery consisted of 194 acres of farmland bought in 1907 and consecrated in 1913. Purchases of adjacent land over the years have increased its size to 755 acres.
More than 57,000 people, including three bishops of Columbus and most of the diocese’s priests, as well as members of the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs (now the Dominican Sisters of Peace) and other religious orders are buried there. Finn said the cemetery has room for thousands more burials because only 75 of 275 acres available have been developed. The cemetery also has 3,500 mausoleum crypts.
Finn said Our Mother of Sorrows Chapel was used about 60 times in 2021 and about 20 times this year for funeral Masses or committal services prior to the renovation, which began in July. It is open every day for prayer and for people to light devotional candles in memory of the deceased.
He said about 1,000 burials take place per year at all the Catholic Cemeteries of Columbus – St. Joseph Cemetery, Resurrection Cemetery in Lewis Center, Holy Cross Cemetery in Pataskala and Mount Calvary Cemetery in Columbus – with room for thousands more burials at all locations except Mount Calvary.
About one-third of the burials at the cemeteries in recent years have involved cremations, a trend that Finn said has been on the rise since the Catholic Church began allowing the practice in 1963.
Resurrection Cemetery, at 9571 N. High St., was consecrated in 1972. Finn said it has 60 developed acres out of 115 available, and more than 10,200 people are buried there. It recently constructed the Holy Gospels mausoleum with 736 crypts and 1,624 niches.
Holy Cross Cemetery, at 11539 National Road (U.S. 40), was consecrated in 1993. It has eight developed acres, out of 50 acres available, and almost 1,300 people are buried there. Its chapel mausoleum has 326 spaces available.
The diocese’s fourth cemetery, Mount Calvary Cemetery on Columbus’ west side, was consecrated in 1874 and is nearly filled. Deacon Fortkamp said only three burials took place there last year.
The diocese celebrated its annual Cemetery Sunday on Nov. 6 with prayer services at all four of its cemeteries. Celebrants for the programs were Deacon Roger Pry, St. Joseph; Deacon Steve Petrill, Resurrection; Father Leo Connolly, Holy Cross; and Deacon Fortkamp, Mount Calvary.
“There are many reasons a Catholic should be buried in a Catholic cemetery,” Finn said. “Most importantly, it’s consecrated ground. In addition, all of our diocesan cemeteries are well-maintained by a staff which takes pride in its work and in taking care of families. I’ve been involved with diocesan cemeteries for 41 years, and many of the caring and compassionate associates on the staffs of our cemeteries have been there for 20 years or more.
“It’s a work that seems to draw people who are really committed to helping the families we serve. And with the Catholic Church’s constant financial backing for its cemeteries, families don’t have to be concerned with the possibility that the gravesites of their loved ones will be neglected or that cemetery operators will vanish, which has happened with some area cemeteries. It is truly a sacred trust.”
For more information about diocesan cemeteries, go to www.columbuscatholic.org/cemeteries or call Finn at (614) 491-2751.