“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself;

Choices for in-ground interment

Cincinnati Catholic Cemetery Society offers a variety of choices for in-ground interment. Most common are single graves and lots composed of two or more graves.

• Single grave: In most cases, this can accommodate two casket interments, one at extra depth and the other at standard depth, usually with a flat memorial.
• Lot: A lot contains more than one grave. In general, each grave can accommodate two casket interments, with an upright memorial.
• Shared-monument lot: A lot adjacent to an installed memorial. The interment rights include inscription rights to the side of the monument facing the lot. The individual or family purchasing the lot on the opposite side of the monument purchases the inscription rights to that face of the monument.
• Family-monument lot: This is also a lot adjacent to an installed memorial. The individual or family purchasing the lot also purchases the monument, thus obtaining the inscription rights.
• Urn space: These interment rights will accommodate up to two urns containing cremated remains, usually with a flat memorial. In many cemeteries, urn spaces have been designed around a central sculpture or garden feature.
• Veterans' section: At Cincinnati Catholic Cemetery Society we have a section dedicated to veterans. The cost of interment rights is reduced in this section. A common memorial feature is dedicated to all veterans.

Care and maintenance

Regular care and maintenance activities include:

• Cutting grass, re-grading graves and lots, planting and caring for trees, snow removal, maintenance of water-supply systems, roads and drainage.

Not all interment rights are available at all cemeteries. Pre-planning gives you the opportunity to make an informed decision about your funeral arrangements.

Above-ground interment, also known as entombment, refers to the burial within a tomb or crypt. The casket or cremation urn is placed in a crypt or columbarium niche within a mausoleum. The crypt or niche is then sealed and a memorial is added. Interment rights are required.

Mausoleums

Historically, entombment was generally available only to the wealthy. Small, privately owned mausoleums were built on the cemetery property for the exclusive interment of members of an extended family.

Today, mausoleums are typically large buildings designed to house hundreds of crypts for above-ground interment. Modern architecture, materials and construction techniques have brought the cost of above-ground interment in line with ground burial, making it possible for most families to afford one of the world's finest forms of burial. 

Crypts

Crypts are the structures designed to hold casketed remains. Following a casket entombment, the crypt is sealed, and a granite or marble front is attached.

There are different kinds of crypts, including:

• Single crypts designed for one entombment only
• Tandem crypts, which are double crypts permitting two entombments lengthwise
• Companion crypts, which are double crypts permitting two entombments side by side
• Westminster crypts, which are double crypts permitting two entombments, one below floor level and the other above

Most mausoleums are built four, five and sometimes six crypts high. The price of the crypt will depend on its type and location. Indoor crypts are made of marble, while outdoor crypts are made only of granite. As beautiful as marble is, it is not suited to harsh winters and airborne pollutants.

Columbariums

A columbarium is an arrangement of niches designed to hold urns containing cremated remains. Many columbariums in our cemeteries are free-standing structures with indoor and outdoor niches. Others are located inside mausoleums and chapels. Following an urn entombment, a niche front of granite, marble, bronze, wood or glass is attached.

One or more cremation urns may be placed inside a crypt with the permission of the interment rights holder(s). The size of the crypt front, however, limits the number of memorial inscriptions that may be placed on it.

Memorials

An inscription on the crypt or niche front is the most widely chosen form of memorial for above-ground interment. Choice of materials varies with the location and structure. Cameos and other special memorials are available for above-ground interment.

Interment Rights for Entombment

Interment rights allow you to designate who may be buried in the crypt space and to place a memorial where permitted. A portion of the purchase price of all interment rights is contributed to the Care and Maintenance Fund. A portion of the purchase price may also be contributed to the Supplementary Care Fund. Income from both funds is used to provide regular care and maintenance activities at the cemeteries.

There are usually a wide range of crypt and niche locations and pricing. All arrangements for entombment can be made in advance. By planning ahead, you have the opportunity to consider the many options available as well as to make an informed decision about your funeral and cemetery arrangements.

More and more people are choosing cremation over in-ground burial or above ground interment. This trend is likely to continue, so it is important for Catholics, especially, to understand how cremated remains fit in the Catholic funeral scenario.

First of all, the Church has allowed cremation for the past twenty years or more. But it also states its preference for "the pious custom of burying the bodies of the dead" intact. According to the Order of Christian Funerals:

"While cremation is now permitted, it does not enjoy the same value as burial of the body. The Church clearly prefers and urges that the body of the deceased be present for the funeral rites, since the presence of the human body better expresses the values which the Church affirms in its rites.”

If you are a Catholic considering cremation, either as a final wish for yourself or as part of the process of carrying out a loved one's wishes, you are urged to discuss the matter with the officiating priest.

What is abundantly clear is that the our earthly remains—whether intact or cremated—are meant to be treated with reverence and dignity. The Church teaches that those departed are with us still as members of the "Church Triumphant." To honor their memory and commune with them in prayer, it is vital that cremated remains be accorded the same respect and "place" in the cemetery as that of traditional interment.

There are several choices for interring cremated remains. Most often, people choose cremation urns placed in niches in a structure known as a columbarium. Columbaria can be free-standing outdoor walls, or inside Mausoleums. With respect to interment rights, cremation urns can be interred with casketed remains in crypts. Cremation urns can also be buried in-ground in urn vaults designed for that purpose.

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