Gravely Speaking

Colma, California was established as a necropolis.  That is, the reason that Colma was created was to “house” the dead from San Francisco.  With the exception of the military cemetery at the Presidio, and a churchyard or two, all of the graves within the city were moved south to Colma.  Now the ratio of dead to living is so lopsided that the unofficial motto is, “It is great to be alive in Colma!”

What formed are cemeteries that are dedicated to various cultures and religions.  One of the historic cemeteries in Colma is the Home of Peace Cemetery—a Jewish cemetery.  Two of the gravestones within the cemetery display a pitcher.  In the Jewish tradition the pitcher connotes a person who descended from the Hebrew tribe of Levi.  One of the images actually shows water pouring from the pitcher in anticipation of a Levite assisting in the worship often by washing the hands of a priest.

The pitcher, however, in a Christian cemetery could take on one of two different meanings.  It could represent a person who was of strong moral character—often found on the gravestone of a woman.  Or it could mark the grave of a prohibitionist.

The mosaic rooster on the columbarium in the St. Francis Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona, and the rooster at the St. Bernard’s Cemetery, in Rockport, Indiana, represent awakening.  One can also imagine how the rooster crowing at the first rays of sunlight in the morning can also symbolize the resurrection.

In memory of

Mrs. Mary Baxter

Widow of

Gregory Baxter

Who died Nov. 11, 1789

In the 88^th, year

Of her age.

Mary Baxter’s dark gray slate tombstone in the Hancock Cemetery in Quincy, Massachusetts, portrays a woman, presumably Mary, holding a circle and an hourglass.

The two symbols are seemingly at odds with one another.  The metaphor of the hourglass suggests the grains of sand slip through one side of the hourglass to the other in a flash as do the minutes of our life.  The hourglass motif on a gravestone symbolizes time fleeting by quickly.

The message of the complete or unbroken circle, however, represents hope, inspiration, and eternal life.

How can these two symbols be compatible?

On the one hand, the hourglass symbolizes the mortal body that does not last long, while on the other hand, Mary holds the circle representing the spiritual life.  The circle emphasizes no beginning and no end.  Death on Earth for the mortal body, eternal life in Heaven for the soul.

Greenwood Memorial Lawn Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona

Praying hands, which can be found as incised carvings on gravestones or as statues that form a centerpiece in gardens within cemeteries, are a symbol of pious devotion.  Praying hands also symbolize the hope for an eternal life.

St. Francis Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona

Greenwood Memorial Lawn Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona

An image that one is likely to come across in cemeteries where there are high populations of Mexican immigrants is the Virgin of Guadalupe, also referred to as Mother of Guadalupe and Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The Virgin of Guadalupe is the Patron Saint to of Mexico.

According to the Catholic Church, the Virgin of Guadalupe was first seen as an apparition the first of four times by Juan Diego on December 9, 1531.  Juan Diego described the woman in the vision as the Virgin Mary dressed in a cloak the color of the clear blue sky.  The cerulean cape was emblazoned with eight point stars and She was standing on top of a crescent moon being carried by a cherubic angel.

Greenwood Memorial Lawn Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona

The Virgin Mary called out to Juan Diego and introduced herself as “the Mother of a very true deity.”  She asked that a church be built in her honor on that spot on Tepeyac Hill (now a suburb of Mexico City).  The humbled Juan Diego excitedly approached the Archbishop Juan de Zumarraga to tell him of the apparition and of the Virgin Mary’s request.

St. Francis Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona

Unfortunately the Archbishop did not believe Juan Diego.  A second time the Virgin Mary appeared before him.  Again She made her request.  Juan Diego returned to the Archbishop and pleaded his case and insisted that the vision he had witnessed was real.  The disbelieving Fray Zumarraga instructed Juan Diego to ask this apparition for a sign to prove that She was real.  During his third visit from the Virgin she agreed to supply the proof the very next day.

Boerne Cemetery, Boerne, Texas

Leaving from his uncle’s sick bed, Juan Diego hurried to meet with the apparition.  Upon seeing her for the fourth time, Diego apologized for being late and explained that his uncle was on his death bed and he had attended to him.  She assured him that his uncle had been healed.  The Virgin instructed Diego to go to the spot where he had first seen her to gather flowers.  Impossible, he thought, it was the dead of winter but he followed her instructions and went to the top of Tepeyac Hill where he discovered blooming Castilian roses which he gathered into his winter cloak to show the Archbishop.  When he arrived to show the Archbishop the proof he opened his cloak and the roses fell to the floor and the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe was emblazoned on the fabric of his coat.

Depictions of the Virgin of Guadalupe are varied, sometimes with the Virgin standing on the half-moon carried by a cherub, sometimes shown as carrying the baby Jesus, but always with the cerulean cloak and eight-pointed stars with rays of light behind Her—sometimes as an incised carving on a gravestone, sometimes as a free-standing sculpture.

Boerne Cemetery, Boerne, Texas