St. Michael’s Cemetery is located in the Pittston Junction section of Pittston, Pennsylvania. It is a short distance north of St. Michael’s Byzantine Catholic Church at the very top of a hill accessed from the main road.  This large cemetery property was established by the newly formed parish community in 1913.   The cemetery was dedicated in the same year work began on constructing the foundation of the church.

Church-affiliated Catholic cemeteries are established in accord with the doctrines of the Catholic church.  “The burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy; it honors the children of God, who are temples of the Holy Spirit.”¹   Catholic cemeteries, therefore, are always consecrated, holy ground.

Faithful Catholics affirm all they believe each time they recite or chant the Profession of Faith (Nicene Creed).   In the Creed, we profess many important beliefs.  As baptized Catholics, not only are we united to Christ through the sacrifice of the cross and his Resurrection, but we place our hope for salvation in Christ Jesus.  The promise of eternal life is in being faithful and following what Jesus taught, obeying the commandments, and in living in him through the sacraments of the church.  Jesus Christ points the way to salvation and in his mercy, gives us the freedom to choose to love him in his unfailing love for us.

The First Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians 4:13‐17

“We would have you be clear about those who sleep in death, otherwise you might yield to grief, like those who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, God will bring forth with Him from the dead those also who have fallen asleep believing in Him. We say to you, as if the Lord Himself had said it, that we who live, who survive until His coming, will in no way have an advantage over those who have fallen asleep. No, the Lord Himself will come down from heaven at the word of command, at the sound of the Archangel’s voice and God’s trumpet; and those who have died in Christ will rise first. Then we, the living, the survivors, will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thenceforth, we shall be with the Lord unceasingly.”

“Your word, O Lord, endures forever; it is firm as the heavens.  Through all generations your Truth endures.”   Psalm 119:89-90

¹ Catechism of the Catholic Church