December 1, 2019

CALVARY CEMETERY HAS AN ALTAR

Thanks to several wonderful and generous benefactors as well as several people who “dared to ask”, Calvary Cemetery now has an altar! There is a lot of local history connected to the placement of the granite altar in our beloved cemetery.

Ten years ago this altar was donated to the College of Saint Joseph by Sr. Martha St. Onge, C.J. and placed in a quiet, hidden away little grove on the property of the former novitiate of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

It was originally donated by Paul and Huguette Savard of Barre, VT to Marydawn Convent in memory of Sophronia Polworth, mother of Sr. Jean Polworth, C.J. and Sr. Mary Polworth, S.S.J.

It was announced, in early 2019, that the College would be closed upon the graduation of the class of May, 2019. Not knowing what would happen to the College and its grounds, Sr. Miriam Preedom, S.S.J. asked Fr. Tom if he was interested in having the altar moved to the grounds of the cemetery, to which he responded, “Definitely!”

Sr. Miriam then spoke to Sr. Shirley Davis, S.S.J., a board member of the College, who then spoke to the President of the College, Jennifer Scott and asked if the altar and all that was there – a railing, an angel, a bench and a statue of the Sacred Heart and its pedestal - could be donated to Calvary Cemetery. The request was approved and so the process began.

An estimate was given as to how much it would cost to move all of that, but it was way beyond what the cemetery fund could afford. It was then decided to just have the altar moved, and a plan was put into place. On the scene enters Sr. Martha St. Onge. She and Sr. Miriam had a conversation regarding moving the altar. Sr. Miriam contacted John Firliet who so generously and graciously offered to donate his efforts, time and materials to build the needed foundation on which to place the altar. Sr. Martha then elicited the assistance of Dan Pennington, a neighbor, who is a friend of Joseph Giancola. They came up with a plan to move the altar using Joe’s equipment and workers.  The altar was moved and placed on its foundation at Calvary Cemetery Thanksgiving week, 2019.

Words cannot adequately express my thanks to all who had a part in making this happen and to all those who donated their time, energy and efforts.

In the spring, the altar will be cleaned and made ready to celebrate Mass at the cemetery as we have traditionally been doing on Memorial Day weekend.  Photos of the installation (click here) can be seen under the Photos tab of the website.

                                                                               Fr. Thomas Houle, Pastor, St. Peter Church, Rutland, Vermont