Saint Vincent communities come together for cross restoration project

Generations intertwine and work in harmony as college students, professors and alumni collaborate with basilica parishioners and archabbey monks to restore more than 700 Benedictine crosses in Saint Vincent Cemetery in Unity.

The cast iron crosses mark the plots of the hundreds of Benedictine monks who lived in the archabbey monastery. There also are five crosses marking the graves of German nuns who lived and died in the monastery before their sisters relocated to the Saint Emma Monastery in Greensburg.

Retired Saint Vincent College professor and administrator Gene Leonard was cleaning his family’s graves with his brother in spring 2021 when they noticed a group of people working on some of the Benedictine crosses. They met Michael Krom, chair of the college philosophy department, and watched as his students cleaned and painted crosses.

Leonard, 82, said the scene piqued his interest. He suggested to Krom that volunteers from the community could clean the crosses a few days before students came to paint them. This would save time and result in more crosses being taken care of.

“I walk through this cemetery a lot,” Leonard said. “My family is buried here, and everyone deserves to rest with dignity in a beautiful place.”

This simple suggestion began a snowball effect that has shaped the project. Since 2021, more than 200 of the 714 crosses have been cleaned and painted. The sealant between the metal cross and the cement base has been replaced and the cracks have been filled. Volunteers from the community are working on the crosses throughout the year.

“Gene has really helped it take off,” Krom said.

The project began as a collaboration between recent Saint Vincent graduate Julia Sarnowski and Krom. Both are affiliated with the college’s Benedictine Leadership Program, with Krom, 45, being the program director and Sarnowski a student member.

Students are taught leadership skills through teachings of the Catholic church over the course of the four-year program. Each semester, they complete a service project.

During the pandemic, college administrators encouraged students to get outside and stay active in their daily lives while practicing social distancing. With the cemetery being within walking distance of campus, Sarnowski chose to spend some of her quarantine days walking through the cemetery.

“Julia had noticed that some sections of the cemetery needed to be repaired and wanted to complete a service project to restore those parts,” Krom said.

Krom began taking his students to the cemetery to paint on All Souls’ Day and during Holy Week in spring to prepare for Easter.

“We always begin with a talk and discuss why it’s important to reflect on death and Benedictine spirituality,” Krom said. “It is healthy and actually very important to reflect on our mortality and spirituality. I think this project is really crucial for the formation of our young adults.”

After the initial interaction, Leonard began spreading the word. He spoke to his friends and put information in the Saint Vincent Basilica bulletin. In 2022, they had six volunteers from the community come to assist students. This year, they have 20.

Since gaining new volunteers, the workers have perfected their system by treating the crosses in steps rather than just spray painting them.

“I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made, but this is a big project, and we are still looking for more volunteers,” Leonard said.

Kris Azzarello spent the morning of her 70th birthday cleaning and priming the cast iron crosses. She is a parishioner of the basilica and read about the project in the bulletin.

“The monks have just done so much for the community and the parish,” Azzarello said. “It’s just a nice way to give back. We talk about the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and it’s a part of taking care of the graves. If we could do something for them, we’d like to do it.”

This was her second round of volunteering. She said, when she was there in the spring, she learned how to use power tools while cleaning the crosses.

“That went really well,” Azzarello said. “They had to show me how to do it. We used a wire brush to scrape all the old paint off. It was fun after I got used to doing it.”

During this rotation, the group of 10 volunteers were charged with wiping down the crosses with water or turpentine, painting them over with primer in preparation for the next group to paint them and add enamel on top of the new paint.

Azzarello’s fellow parishioner, Karen Fennell, 68, read about the opportunity in the basilica bulletin, as well. She said that she had wanted to give back and use her time as a retiree to do something good for someone.

“I just felt compelled to come and help,” Fennell said. “(The monks) have been a part of my life forever.”

Like most of the volunteers, both women said the work they were doing was new to them, but Saint Vincent Cemetery manager Dennis Garmen was there to guide them. He buys supplies for the volunteers to use with money from the cemetery and donations made to the project.

Ed McCormick, 67, a member of the Saint Vincent alumni council, said members of his organization have been cleaning graves in the cemetery since 2002.

“After about five years, it fizzled out,” McCormick said. “Gene stepped in a couple years ago and started it up again. Our original intention was to do about 20 (crosses) a year. In the past two years, we’ve done about 200.”

McCormick said people who are coming to help often are looking for a specific name on a headstone. Many of the volunteers grew up locally and were familiar with the monks from a young age.

“You want to be remembered,” McCormick said. “Even if it’s for someone to say a prayer for you. We are trying to maintain the dignity that these men deserve. That’s the easiest way of saying it.”