Mission Statement
Catholic cemeteries, columbariums, and mausoleums are places consecrated and set apart and, with consecrated churches, constitute the "sacred spaces" which the church reserves in this world exclusively for the worship of God. They reflect the deep faith of Catholic Christians in the intimate connection between the death of the Lord and the death of each believer, demonstrate our conviction that the bodies of the baptized have been the dwelling places of the Holy Spirit, and serve as an expression of the Church’s ministry both to the deceased and to those who mourn their passing.
General Information
Holy Cross Cemetery, Columbarium, and Mausoleum are owned and operated by the Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a nonprofit corporation located in Bernardsville, New Jersey. The responsibility for management of the facility rests with the Pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish and is exercised by him through various members of the parish staff. This facility conforms in all relevant matters to the applicable laws of the State of New Jersey and to Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as to any regulations issued by the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen. It is operated as a ministry of the parish primarily for Catholic residents of the Somerset Hills region of New Jersey and their families. The entire cemetery complex has been solemnly consecrated according to the Rites of the Roman Catholic Church. For more information, please contact the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Office at (908)-766-0079 during office hours.
Information concerning the regulations, restrictions, and prices are also available through the offices of the Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 111 Claremont Road, Bernardsville, NJ 07924. The purchase of a cemetery lot does not confer ownership of the land but only a right in the nature of an easement to use the lot for the burial of the dead for as long as the property continues to be used as a cemetery, as provided by law. The "lot holder" is considered to be the person or persons who have purchased interment or entombment rights, or who hold same by right of inheritance or transfer. Cemetery lots shall be indivisible and the descent of a lot to heirs occurs as regulated by civil law. Interments require 48 hours pre-notification; additional charges will be imposed when cemetery staff are required to work overtime or on weekends or holidays. Additional notification time and costs may be involved on or surrounding holidays. The management may refuse interment in any lot or crypt against which there is any unpaid account balance.
Cemetary Regulations
The enforcement of all rules and regulations is entrusted to the cemetery staff. The cemetery staff will seek the assistance of law enforcement agents as needed. The entire facility is considered private property and access is granted solely for the purpose of interring and mourning the dead in a manner consistent with the nature of a Catholic cemetery, columbarium, and mausoleum. Weather permitting, mourners are permitted to visit the graves or tombs of their loved ones between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm when Eastern Standard time is in effect, and between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm when Daylight Savings time is in effect.
To insure the safety of visitors, the entire cemetery complex is closed to visitation when the roads are snow or ice covered.
The grounds are to be entered only through the gates and only for the purpose of respectful visitation and are never available for recreation, picnicking, sports, casual gathering of groups, or for any loud, boisterous or disrespectful behavior of any kind as judged by the management.
Minors under the age of seventeen are not permitted on the grounds without an accompanying adult. Pets are never permitted on the grounds for any reason. Automobiles and other motorized vehicles on the grounds are not permitted to exceed ten miles per hour, must remain on the paved roadways at all times, may not turn around on the roadways, must keep to the right, and may park only and entirely on the paved driveways.
Any person who destroys, defaces, or in any way vandalizes any monument, grave, tree, shrub, plant or building on the property is guilty of a serious offense and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Food and beverages of any kind are banned from the property. It is not permitted to bring mowers or power equipment of any kind onto the cemetery grounds. All in-ground interments must be placed in vaults approved by cemetery management. Double deep burials are not permitted. The cemetery will permit the interment of no more than one human corpse and one set of human cremains, or two sets of human cremains into any one lot. Interment of a human corpse or human cremains are permitted only under the direct supervision of the cemetery staff. No interment of a human corpse or human cremains is ever permitted by private individuals. No interment of non-human remains is ever permitted. At its discretion, when requested, the cemetery management may purchase empty grave lots back from the lot holder. Remuneration for such lots is set at seventy-five percent of the original purchase price. The conditions upon which the cemetery will engage in this transaction include whether the grave lot would be reasonably re-sellable and whether sufficient space is available for an appropriate grave marker.
Decorations and Adornments to Graves Upright monuments (e.g., markers, gravestones, benches, and statues) and flush flat markers require the prior written approval of cemetery management as to size, form, and inscription. Monuments which might offend the dignity, sightliness, or safety of the cemetery in the sole judgment of the cemetery management will not be permitted. Information concerning permissible size, form, and inscriptions may be obtained from the cemetery staff. Monuments and markers may be purchased from any company or from any public or private source. The cemetery does not employ any of these companies. Liability for the proper installation of monuments and markers and all inscriptions is the sole responsibility of the company which provides them. Installation, modification, and repair of monuments and markers must be scheduled through the cemetery office and accomplished under the supervision of the cemetery management upon receipt of approval. Repair, maintenance and upkeep of all monuments and markers are the responsibility of lot owners. Cemetery management will not be responsible for damage to any monument or marker within the cemetery. Foundations are poured only by cemetery employees and only between March 1st and October 15th. They may be ordered by contacting the cemetery staff. Fences, hedges, coping, edging, curbing enclosures, ironwork, wires, vases, urns, posts, steps, and any and all such accouterments are prohibited on the cemetery lots.
The planting or placement of trees, shrubs, bushes, and large plants is not permitted except by cemetery staff at the direction of the cemetery management. Grading, sodding, seeding, fertilizing and filling of cemetery lots by persons other than cemetery employees are prohibited. Outlining of graves or memorials by stripping a border of sod around the grave, or outlining the grave with metal frames, stones, or crushed stone, is not permitted. Small articles such as flowers, flags, low-growing plants, shells, stone chips, mulch, glass receptacles, crosses, and other decorative objects may be placed within a space not to exceed 18 inches from the monument or marker. Cemetery staff at their sole discretion may remove these without notice if they become unsightly, offend the dignity of the cemetery, or pose safety or access concerns for cemetery staff. Weeding, watering, and maintenance of plants and flowers is the responsibility of the lot holder.
All floral arrangements left at the grave at the time of interment will be removed by cemetery personnel within three to five days. Temporary grave markers will be removed one year after the interment.
One flush grave Christmas blanket of natural pine in a size not exceeding the width of the individual marker and not more than three feet in length is permitted on each lot from Thanksgiving Week until February 1st and may be purchased from any source.
Special Mausoleum & Columbarium Regulations
All bodies accepted for entombment in the mausoleum must have been embalmed by a licensed funeral director and placed in a casket; the casket must be placed in an enclosure including a tray which has been approved by the cemetery management. Enclosures and trays are available for purchase from the funeral director. The sale, assignment, and transfer of crypts and niches is at all times subject to the canons of the Roman Catholic Church, the statutes of the State of New Jersey and the regulations of the cemetery management. A crypt or niche holder may request a refund for unused crypt space. Transfer of interred remains from a cemetery lot to a mausoleum crypt is the financial responsibility of the family, who must pay the disinterment fee, the entombment fee for the mausoleum and the cost of a new casket or container if, in the judgment of the management of the cemetery, the original casket or container is not suitable for transfer. The casket must be placed in a zinc liner with a tray acceptable to the cemetery management. The lettering and other external adornment of crypt or niche fronts is permitted only through cemetery staff. Except for that arranged through the cemetery staff, any and all decoration or ornamentation of crypt or niche fronts, including inscriptions, pictures, messages, flowers, flags, etc., is absolutely forbidden at all times. Bouquets of artificial flowers are permitted to be placed in the vases available for purchase through the cemetery staff.
Cemetery staff will remove and discard without notice all other flowers and decorative materials that are left in the mausoleum building or around its perimeter. At the time of entombment, one floral spray may be placed on the casket during the committal rites, but no flower baskets or additional floral pieces will be permitted in the mausoleum or around its perimeter.
Amendment and Interpretation
The information and regulations stated above are in force and supercede all previously proffered information and regulations issued with regard to Holy Cross Cemetery, Columbarium, and Mausoleum. Final authority to amend, abrogate, and interpret these regulations is vested in the Pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Bernardsville, NJ.
Issued and Effective, 01 March 2005 First Revision, 01 November 2008 Second Revision, 01 June 2011
The Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Phone: (908)-766-0079 Ext. 0
Email:
Address:
111 Claremont Road Bernardsville, NJ 07924