27. SEPULCHERS AND CEMETERIES
Instructions regarding sepulchers and cemeteries now follow.
Since the canons have sanctioned the custom of burying Bishops, priests and other ecclesiastics in the church, a few instructions are required regarding their burial.
The burial place of the Bishop in the cathedral basilica can be in front of the doors or entrance to the choir. If however there is no suitable place here, another more in keeping with the pious and venerable name and the dignity of the Bishop will be chosen, just as long as it is not in the choir, nor in the main chapel, but beyond their confines, in another more suitable and important part of the church. It will be distinguished from the other canonical sepulchers by its site and episcopal insignia.
To the right of the bishop’s tomb there will be two tombs for the canons. These should be quite far from the former and in them the canons and those on whom the chapter conferred a capitular rank shall be buried.
There will also be two tombs on the left side, not too close, in which the other priests of the cathedral basilica will be buried, as well as the clerics and other ecclesiastical ministers.
In collegiate churches there will be three sepulchers, also in front of the choir, or in another even worthier place, but not in the choir, nor in the main chapel, or in any other chapel. Only the provosts, archpriests, or rectors by another name, will be buried in the middle sepulcher. In the second the canons will be buried, in the third the other priests, clerics, ecclesiastical ministers.
In each parish church, there should also be two sepulchers in the place indicated above: one for the parish priests or rectors, the other for the parish clerics.
Where it is not possible to find space for the common burials, either in the atrium or the portico or the hall, or the cemetery, at least four of this type will be prepared inside in the entrance to the church.
It has been decreed that no other sepulchers of laymen should have a place in the church unless the Bishop allows it. If it is allowed that they be placed or built there, they may not be placed or built near the altars, as provided for by the Council of Bari, and the tomb opening shall be at least three cubits distant from the altar footpace. They will not be built within the confines of the choir and the main chapel, or within the railings of the minor chapels, which [railings] separate the celebrating priest from the people. The tombs will be vaulted, and will not project in any way from the floor of the church, but will be perfectly level with it.
They will be arranged in an orderly row on both sides of the church, to the right and to the left, where it is permitted, so that they correspond to each other.
Double cover of the sepulcher
The sepulchers will have a double cover, so that they will not become malodorous. These covers, square or of some other suitable form depending on the characteristics of the site, will be of solid stone.
A certain space will be left between the two covers. The lower cover will be of rough stone, the upper of smooth stone, level with the floor of the church and fitting tightly around the tomb opening.
The ring for the tomb
A ring will be put in the center of the upper cover to raise it, but in such a way that it does not project. Therefore a depression will be made in the cover the same size as the thickness of the ring, into which it will be set.
Nor should another arrangement be overlooked, and that is that the cover be raised by two pins of considerable thickness. They will be put through on both sides of the upper part of the cover and must not project, while on the lower part, since the pins are longer than the thickness of the cover, each will be firmly attached to an iron crosspiece. The cover can then be supported by this when it is raised by means of cords tied to each pin.
Moreover no cross or other images or sacred effigies are to be sculpted or represented in any other way on the upper cover, for they would otherwise be defiled by dust, mud or spittle or trodden on by those who go by. No sculptured ornament is to be made, either carved letters or inscriptions or anything else that projects, nothing will be inscribed or represented in mosaic, even though it did not project, without the previous approval of the Bishop.
Cemeteries
Instructions regarding cemeteries ought to be given together with those regarding sepulchers. We desire that the ancient custom of burying the dead in cemeteries, so praised by the Fathers of the Church, be restored when possible, on the basis of the decree of the provincial council, by the Bishops of our province.
Some cemeteries, as can be seen, are in the portico or atrium of the church, that is on the front, some in the back, others on the north side, others on the south, some all around, and up to now there has been no prohibition saying they should be set in one part only or in all.
But the cemeteries which are in the front or in the atrium of the church, while it is true that they serve, just by being seen, to arouse charitable feelings towards the deceased faithful, or to call our attention to the human condition, still, since they are continuously being passed through on the way to and through the church, they can easily become a place where animals pass, or servitudes, for public walking places, meetings and other actions of men, unfitting for that sacred place, and therefore often, as also for other reasons, that occur daily in human life, they are violated. Therefore if they can be set up on one of the sides, they should not be allowed on the front of the church, in the atriums or porticoes.
Preferably they should be set on the northern side of the church, or on the side where it is easier to avoid daily passage to the ecclesiastical buildings, views from the windows, dripping drains, and other servitudes of the kind.
The size of the cemeteries should be in relation to the size of the church to which they are attached, the size of the site, and the number of parishioners. They can be oblong or square in shape, depending on the judgement of the architect and the characteristics of the site. They must not be without walls, but must be surrounded on all sides. The walls must be about seven cubits high from the ground. Where, due to the poverty of the place, such high walls cannot be built, they will be made at least high enough to stop animals from coming in, and that is not less than three cubits. Where there are rocks on the cemetery boundary, they can serve as wall.
Outside, the walls made by hand will be plastered white. In the more important sites it will be suitable to have the inside [of the cemetery] lined on all sides with porticoes, and decorated with sacred paintings and stories. The sepulchers in these porticoes can be arranged in straight rows and at equal distance one from the other, in the prescribed form.
Where the cemeteries have no porticoes, the walls at least must be decorated with a few sacred paintings, set in determined points.
A cross in brass, or marble, or some other stone, will be placed at the center of the cemetery. It will be set on a marble or stone column, or on a pier, and furnished with a suitable covering, or it can be in wood, and high.
Where possible, a small chapel, facing east, will be built, in which the prayers for the dead are sometimes recited. It will have a holy water font in the prescribed form with a sprinkler, not attached but movable for aspersion
The ossuary
Inside there will then be a specific place, surrounded by walls and, where possible, covered with a roof and vault, and visible to all, where the bones of the dead as they are exhumed can be placed in orderly form.
Cemetery entrances
There can be three entrances at the front of the cemetery, unless the site also requires them to be on the side. If the cemetery is contiguous with the church at some point, it will also have a door on that side which leads into the church when necessary, on the occasion of the divine office of the Dead, or for processions. Above the principal entrance, set on the front of the cemetery, outside, will be placed an image of the holy and sacred cross, with the image of a head or skull of a dead man at the extremity of the cross. The entrances, on whatever side they are, will have solid door panels to close them, with bolts and locks and they will be opened only when needed.
No vines, trees, bushes, shrubs of any kind should be in the cemetery, neither those that bear fruit, nor those that bear no fruit or berries. Nor should there be any hay or grass which serves as pasture. There should be no stacks of wood or beams or piles of masonry or stones, and in general anything that disagrees with the sanctity, religion and decorum of this place.
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