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May 7, 2020Construction is under way on a new Our Lady of Sorrows Mausoleum at the archdiocese's Resurrection Memorial Cemetery near the Catholic Pastoral Center in Oklahoma City.
The cemetery's Executive Director Branden Seid said the mausoleum should be completed in March or April of next year. It's the first mausoleum built at Resurrection since 1982.
The addition will expand the capacity of the cemetery. When the new mausoleum is finished, it will be about 2,000 square feet with 992 crypts inside and outside. That includes 528 single crypts and 231 companion crypts.
The mausoleum will be adorned with artwork to comfort family and honor the deceased. The artwork includes a life size white Carrera marble replica of The Pieta, the famous Michelangelo piece that features the body of Jesus on the lap of the Blessed Mother following the crucifixion. Seid explained there will be two other mosaic images inside the chapel, including depictions of the raising of Lazarus and the raising the son of the widow of Nain.
“Inside the mausoleum there will be an altar where funeral Masses can be celebrated,” Seid said.
He also explained funeral Masses inside of the chapel should comfortably seat 70 people.
Members of the cemetery board said they are excited about what Catholics and the rest of the public will see once the mausoleum is complete.
"The new mausoleum will provide a beautiful building for families dealing with the loss of a loved one," board member Jim Connelly said. "The Pieta, being sculpted in Italy, will be spectacular inside the center of the facility. This will make Catholics in our archdiocese proud."
Resurrection Memorial Cemetery began serving Catholics and others in 1960. In the past 60 years, some 20,000 services have been held at the cemetery, Seid said, including interments, inurnments or entombments.
Steve Gust is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Resurrection Memorial Cemetery
(405) 721-4191
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resurrectionmemorialcemetery.com
