Saint Mary, a Parochial cemetery established in 1845, set on approximately 80 acres, is one of the oldest Catholic cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Boston. We complete an average of 140 interments each year, and have a total of approximately 20,000 interments. We employ a full time staff of three, and one part time employee.

St. Mary’s is managed under the direction of a Cemetery Council comprised of 6 lay persons from the parish. The Pastor of St. Mary Parish serves as the Pastor/Director of the cemetery and Chairperson of the Cemetery Council. Robert O’Connor, a full time employee of the cemetery for over 25 years, is the Executive Director of the cemetery and Vice-Chairperson of the Cemetery Council.

The Cemetery Council meets four times per year to review and set policy and procedures as well as address problems/questions that may arise. Over the last few years, they have focused on expansion, land conservation as well as developing an awareness of the sacredness of our cemetery space.

Along with the advice of the Council, the management team has developed informative brochures, a clear set of regulations, established a web site, and enhanced communication with the community. Our Memorial Day Liturgy remains one of the highlights of the year. Well over 250 parishioners and visitors attend each year.

One of the new challenges is meeting the changing interment needs of the Catholic Community. We have addressed this challenge by developing a Garden Mausoleum with 320 crypt spaces. We have incorporated the Lawn Crypt interment system, which allows the cemetery to save valuable space, provides a lower cost interment option and the ability to maintain our garden-type cemetery setting. In addition, we have added a Columbarium, which provides interment space and memorialization for 112 cremation urns.

Most recently, we have completed a large expansion project. This project includes the expansion of the St. Jude Lawn area and the installation of 320 new double space lawn crypts as well as several hundred new single depth sites. Included in the project was the installation of a bridge to cross the Glover’s Brook allowing the Cemetery to access over fifteen additional acres of land for future cemetery use. This expansion project will help secure the future of St. Mary Cemetery for many generations to come.