Preparing for the Future

Since the University was founded, members of the Notre Dame faculty and staff have had the option of a Christian burial in Cedar Grove Cemetery on campus. And now alumni have the same opportunity, thanks to the Coming Home initiative, which affords above-ground burial to alumni and their families.

Last year, Notre Dame’s Cedar Grove Cemetery dedicated a new Our Lady of Sorrows sculpture and prayer garden. The sculpture, created by American artist Robert Graham, features Mary wearing a veil with seven swords (representing her seven sorrows) piercing her heart. Below her is a figure of Christ laying atop the world.

All are welcome to visit both the statue and the prayer garden during Cedar Grove Cemetery’s open houses, which take place on home football game Fridays and Saturdays throughout the fall. Staff will be on hand on Fridays from 8:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. to answer questions about the facilities. During the open houses, families can tour the Our Lady of Sorrows at Cedar Grove Cemetery mausoleum complex and meet with a cemetery counselor to gather more information about the options available to them.

For those not making a trip to campus for the games, Cedar Grove has made it easier for alumni near and far to explore the property, thanks to a virtual tour feature on its website.        

New this year, members of the Notre Dame family are able to purchase caskets and urns engraved with the Notre Dame seal. The caskets and urns are made available by Trappist Caskets of the New Melleray Abbey, a Cistercian monastery located south of Dubuque, Iowa. There, Trappist monks who are dedicated to a life of contemplative prayer, handcraft and mill each casket and urn from their own sustainable forest. After each casket and urn is completed and blessed, the monks honor the deceased by celebrating a Mass and planting a new tree. To learn more about this unique offering, visit the Trappist Casket website.

For more information, or to see purchase policies, eligibility, pricing, and payment plans, visit the Cedar Grove Cemetery website, or contact Karmin Meade, Cemetery Services coordinator at 574-631-5660.