Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Worth, Illinois)

Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Worth Township, Cook County, Illinois is a Roman Catholic cemetery of the Archdiocese of Chicago, located southwest of Chicago, at 6001 West 111th Street in Alsip.

Visitors are greeted by rolling manicured lawns, a large, dramatic entrance gate, winding roads, and abundant statuary. As is typical of the area, the cemetery is bordered on all sides by major roads, and is surrounded by commercial and residential zones. Its most prominent feature is the Mausoleum of the Archangels.

Just inside the main gate.

The headstones in the newer areas lie flat (technically known as "lawn level markers") to facilitate mowing and groundskeeping. It is possible to have upright markers for family plots, but this requires purchasing multiple gravesites and using a single, larger marker. The older areas have upright headstones that run the gamut from typical markers to fanciful and artistic. There are mausoleums for above-ground interments.

Section of family plots

The cemetery has quite a history. It was the first to open after World War I, the first to have lawn level grave markers, and the first to implement the policy that all future care was included in the cost of the grave. It is one of the few cemeteries to offer upright headstones, albeit with strict requirements. According to the nearby Village of Chicago Ridge, the cemetery was established on a former racetrack in 1911

Dedicated by Cardinal Bernardin in 1993, the Mausoleum features life-size statues of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Each statue sits in the midst of a small park-like setting, with private seating areas and marble lined halls. This type of mausoleum is also known as a "garden crypt". Unlike the more time-honored mausoleum layout, the burial vaults are in the exterior walls, thus eliminating interior corridors. The Mausoleum can be seen from the intersection of 115th and Ridgeland Avenue here.

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