Gate of Heaven Cemetery unveils art and chapel mausoleum with newly commissioned and salvaged religious art
Gate of Heaven Cemetery and Mausoleum in East Hanover will hold an open house weekend on March 18 and 19, where visitors can witness the unveiling of a new addition, the Chapel Mausoleum of the Resurrection.
This new structure features elegant marble crypts, glass and marble cremation niches, and a new chapel section dedicated to cremations. The chapel also showcases several stunning new and restored works of liturgical art, including a two-story mosaic of Jesus Christ crafted by Mellini Art Glass & Mosaics U.S., an art studio based in Florence, Italy.
Inspired by the stained-glass window of the Resurrection in the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas, a team of 10 artisans worked for over a year, choosing tiles from over 1,800 tones of color and utilizing a technique of mosaic creation from the time of the great Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo.
“The Resurrection mosaic celebrates the sacredness of life and death,” says Joseph Verzi, who worked as Assistant Executive Director for Catholic Cemeteries for more than two decades and now serves as a consultant. Quoting the writer and artist Rabindranath Tagore, Verzi said, “Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”
The Chapel Mausoleum of the Resurrection also features a stained-glass window titled “The Peacemakers,” inspired by the Sermon on the Mount, and features Christ with the 12 Apostles. The window was saved from the former Sacred Heart Church in Vailsburg and was installed on the second floor in the new cremation chapel on the opposite side of the mosaic.
Verzi says the Peacemaker-stained glass window is relevant today amid the various global conflicts.
“The reason we want it to be a special location is so that people can go there and pray for peace,” explains Verzi. “And the same people that went to Sacred Heart Church and prayed to those 12 Apostles are now being interred in a place where those works of art are still saved.”
The Peacemaker Cremation Chapel of World Peace also features two bronze statues created by Demetz Art Studio of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Claire of Assisi, two well-known peacemakers. In 1244, when the army of Emperor Frederick II, at war with the pope, sent his army to attack the town of Assisi, St. Clare, who was ill, asked the priest to bring her the Hosts of Jesus Christ.
According to a testament attributed to the saint, as the soldiers were about to enter the monastery, she held up the ciborium, prayed for protection, and the soldiers fell backward, dazed, and fled.
Another legend involved St. Francis of Assisi when a wolf terrorized Gubbio, a town north of Assisi. With no weapons or shields, St. Francis confronted the wolf while praying and asked it not to attack the people or animals of Gubbio. In exchange, St. Francis promised the wolf that the townspeople would provide food. The townspeople agreed, and there was peace.
The life-size wooden statue of St. Francis features him holding a dove, a known symbol of peace and the Holy Spirit. The figure of St. Clare features her holding a ciborium.
According to Verzi, restoring sacred works of art from former churches through patrimony and relocating them to archdiocesan mausoleums allows local Catholics to appreciate works of art they connected with from baptism until they reach their resting space at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
The final significant art installation includes 14 life-like statues of the stations of the cross handcrafted from wood made in Tyrol, Austria, almost 200 years ago. The sculptures were saved from St. Peter’s Church (formerly Queen of Angels), built in Newark around 1860, and restored to their original glory.
Val Gardena, an Italian/Austrian area in the heart of the Dolomites, where the statues originated, is world-renowned for its superior quality of statues, religious figures, and church altars.
The final piece of the puzzle for the new Chapel Mausoleum of the Resurrection was finding an altar and pulpit for committal services. New altars can be costly, and finding a matching lectern can be a challenge.
But as luck would have it, when the Archdiocese of Newark decided to replace their chapel’s rectangular altar decades ago with a round one to match its sphere-shaped chapel, the original altar was sent to Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington.
Michael Saul, Director of Construction, Planning & Development for Catholic Cemeteries, found the altar. He later learned that the matching lectern had been stored at the Archdiocese of Newark’s Pastoral Center. Both were designed by Michael Graves, the world-renowned architect who designed the Pastoral Center, originally known as the Chancery.
After restoration and restaining of the wood to match the chapel seating, both were brought to the new chapel mausoleum at Gate of Heaven Cemetery and fit perfectly in space and design.
Memorial planning advisors will be available throughout the weekend to answer questions.
Catholic Cemeteries open houses:
March 18 & 19: Gate of Heaven Cemetery & Mausoleum, 225 Ridgedale Ave., East Hanover, N.J. 07936, (888) 459-0746. www.gateofheavencemetery.org.
April 1 & 2: Maryrest Cemetery & Mausoleum, 770 Darlington Ave., Mahwah, NJ 07430, (888) 489-9095. www.maryrestcemetery.org.
April 1 & 2: Christ The King Cemetery, 980 Huron Road, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417, (888) 802-2933. www.christthekingcemetery.org.
April 15 & 16: Holy Cross Cemetery & Mausoleum, 340 Ridge Rd., North Arlington, NJ 07031, (888) 467-8903. www.holycross-cemetery.org.
April 29 & 30: St. Gertrude Cemetery & Mausoleum, 53 Inman Ave., Colonia, NJ 07067, (888) 444-2791. www.saintgertrudecemetery.org.
May 20 & 21: Holy Name Cemetery & Mausoleum, 823 West Side Ave., Jersey City, N.J. 07306, (888) 621-0337. www.holynamecemetery.org.
Featured image: Inspired by the Sermon on the Mount, the Peacemakers stained glass window, located in the Cremation Chapel of World Peace on the second floor, features Christ with the 12 Apostles. The window was saved from the former Sacred Heart Church in Vailsburg. (Catholic Cemeteries)
