Graveyard

Graveyard
The Matthews Monument at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Where the Grapes of Peace Are Stored

Hillcrest Cemetery, Roslyn, PA

Grapes on a tombstone usually represent the blood of Christ.  Grapes, of course, are used to make wine, and the wine used during the Christian Eucharist ceremony (or Holy Communion) represents or transforms into the blood of Christ, depending on your religious viewpoint.  This ritual echoes the  Last Supper, where Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples, and instructed them to do this again in the future in remembrance of him.  Eucharist is from the Greek word eucharistia, which means "thanksgiving."    Perhaps when grapes were commissioned to be carved on the tombstone of the deceased, their loved ones were giving thanks for having had the deceased in their lives, even for a short time, and also proclaiming the Christian piety of the deceased.  I also wonder if grapes could represent the bounty of the harvest, or a life well lived, as a secondary meaning.  Enjoy this uh, cluster of photographs, and contact me at tschane2@verizon.net.

Old Tennent Presbyterian Cemetery, Manalapan, NJ

Chestnut Hill Church Cemetery, Coopersburg, PA

Christ Lutheran Church Cemetery, Harleysville, PA

Greenwood Cemetery, Howertown, PA

Rosedale Cemetery, Montclair, NJ

Greenwood Cemetery, Howertown, PA

Greenwood Cemetery, Howertown, PA

Heidelberg Union Cemetery, Slatington, PA

Hillcrest Cemetery, Roslyn, PA

Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery, Tamaqua, PA

Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, Sellersville, PA

Grapes and leaves on the bottom left, Mauch Chunk Cemetery, Jim Thorpe, PA

Neffs Union Cemetery, Neffs, PA

Neffs Union Cemetery, Neffs, PA

I know this has the "Jesus fish" look to it, but it is grape cluster on a leaf, New Falkner Swamp UCC Cemetery, Gilbertsville, PA

Sassaman's Reformed Cemetery, Sassamansville, PA

St. Paul's Episcopal Cemetery, Elkins Park, PA

St. Paul's Episcopal Cemetery, Elkins Park, PA


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