Cathedral Cenotaph Provides Way To Memorialize Loved Ones

Nearly a year after 46-year-old Denise Maddix lost her long and courageous battle with chronic leukemia, Joe Cervelli Jr. was looking for some way to honor his sister’s memory and provide a measure of consolation to their grieving parents and family.

Maddix, a brilliant mathematician and computer scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, died on June 18, 2008, leaving behind her husband, Daniel, and their daughter, Danielle.

“I was trying to find the right Mother’s Day gift in a potentially difficult time, since this was the first Mother’s Day since my sister had passed away,” recalled Cervelli, who along with his parents and his sister’s family is a member of St. Philip Neri Parish in Alameda. “She was my only sibling.”

When he inquired about the availability of memorial gifts at the Diocese of Oakland’s Catholic cemeteries office, he found his answer.

“They mentioned the cenotaph wall at the new Oakland cathedral,” he told The Catholic Voice. “I went to the space, and it was very special. It felt perfect!”

“Cenotaph” may be a new word to many people, but the concept should be familiar. Literally meaning “empty tomb,” it refers to a physical memorial to individuals or groups who have been lost or have died and have been interred elsewhere.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., which lists the names of all American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War, is a striking example of a cenotaph.

The cenotaph in the mausoleum of the Cathedral of Christ the Light offers an opportunity for the faithful to participate in a sacred tradition and to remind ourselves of our relationship in the Communion of Saints, according to Robert Seelig, director of the diocesan Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services.

“At a site like the cathedral, there is a sense of the sacred. Churches were often erected at the sites where early Christians were martyred,” Seelig explained.

“To allow us to bring the memory of loved ones to a holy site allows a connection, especially when families are interred at different locations. It is also a way to connect the dead who are in heaven [and purgatory] with us who are still alive worshipping in a sacred place.”

The cenotaph, he added, also allows us to memorialize the dead “who may never have had the chance to be memorialized due to death at sea, war or by other circumstances.”

The cathedral cenotaph is a wall of 21 beveled crystal-glass panes, three columns wide and seven rows deep, displayed beneath a larger glass pane that reads, “For Your Faithful People, O Lord, Life Has Changed Not Ended.” Each of the smaller panes can hold 20 inscriptions, each bearing the full name, birth date and date of death of one memorialized. It is situated in a recessed wall between sets of marble and glass niches.

Three additional locations within the mausoleum have also been identified as sites for future cenotaph walls, Seelig said. In time, each cenotaph will be accompanied by a custom tapestry, each bearing a biblical scene taking place after the Resurrection.

The tax-deductible donation for memorializing a loved one on the cenotaph is $1,000. Each inscription is contained within a 1-inch-by-5-inch space. Six memorials have been purchased to date.

The cenotaph also provides a memorial opportunity for families who place the cremains of loved ones in the mausoleum’s community crypt, the Crypt of the Holy Angels, which carries a tax-deductible $500 fee. The combined costs “allows even the poorest in our community to be part of a cathedral mausoleum, which is often thought of as a place for the wealthier in our community,” said Seelig.

For Joe Cervelli Jr., the memorial for his sister, who is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward, was an ideal and heartfelt gift for his parents and all who remember her.

“My mother was very moved by the special remembrance, and this provides the entire family yet another place to connect with Denise in a prayerful and spiritual setting,” he said. “She will be deeply missed by those who had the privilege to know her.”

For information on the cenotaph, contact Eric Karleskind in the Cathedral Mausoleum Office at (510) 496-7271 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Written by Gerald Korson, The Catholic Voice.