Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES Mahwah IV • November 14, 2012 Archbishop Myers dedicates chapel mausoleum by Frank J. McMahon Archbishop of Newark John J. Myers recently led an official blessing and dedication of the newly constructed Chapel Mausoleum at Maryrest Cemetery in Mahwah. The dedication also included the blessing of two new statues at the cemetery, the towering Our Lady of the Magnificat at the main gate, and the Rachel memorial to unborn children. Archbishop Meyers pointed out that the Our Lady the Magnificat statue is considered by the archdiocese as one of the most notable additions to the Maryrest Cemetery. It stands more than 21 feet tall, and weighs 21,000 pounds, and looks out over the property. Andrew Schafer, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries for the Archdiocese of Newark, spoke at the dedication. “The Archdiocese of Newark is very pleased to welcome everyone to the official blessing and dedication of this newly constructed Maryrest Chapel Mausoleum,” Schafer said. “The expansion allows for Mass to be celebrated in the cemetery as well as for committal services to be held in the chapel.” The addition of the newly constructed Maryrest Chapel Mausoleum brings the total of mausoleum buildings on the Maryrest property to four with 3,200 crypts. The expansion has allowed the facility to offer more pre-planning programs in addition to memorialization options, including indoor and outdoor mausoleums, in-ground burial sites, cremation niches, individual family estates, and green/natural burials. According to Katie Timinsky, a spokesperson for the archdiocese, the chapel mausoleum is part of an overall multi-million expansion of the cemetery that includes 1,157 square feet of new and restored stained glass windows that were rescued from a recently closed church building, several statues created in Italy, and a two-acre green burial site, the first one in a Catholic cemetery in the state. Maryrest Chapel Mausoleum behind the Our Lady the Magnificat statue The plan to construct mausoleums on the Maryrest Cemetery property came before the township’s planning board in December 2006 and was approved in January 2007. Construction began in July 2008. The mausoleum plan was revised before it was approved in order to meet the concerns that were expressed by the planning board. The official height of the main two-story mausoleum building was reduced from 38.5 feet to the 35 foot maximum allowed by the township’s zoning code by placing some crypts into the floor of the building. The bell tower, which is exempt from the height restrictions of the (continued on page 14)