Multimedia: New cenotaph honors departed priests

Departed priests of the Diocese of St. Petersburg are remembered and honored with renovations to their final resting places and with a new cenotaph at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

At the core of the latest improvements at Calvary Catholic Cemetery is what the cemetery director, Father Ralph Argentino, considers a ministry of the Catholic Church to provide for the deceased through remembrance and prayer.

To honor the departed priests who have served the diocese since its inception, Father Argentino removed the existing cross–shaped grave markers and had them cleaned and polished. The new markers were reinstalled on blocks of blue silk granite and are surrounded by a mulch garden. Those on the north side of the altar were completed in September of this year and those for the south of the altar will be completed by the end of this year.

The vertical cenotaph, or wall of remembrance, contains the names of former Bishop W. Thomas Larkin and 33 other priests who served the diocese but are not among those buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery. During a four–day process in September, the names were etched into the granite monument, which measures eight–feet wide by four–feet tall, and Calvary’s employees permanently mounted the structure.

If there was a special priest of the diocese in your life, why not pause for a minute to say a prayer for him now. And, if you would like to sponsor the improvement to their final resting place, please contact Father Argentino at 727–572–4355 or by e–mail.