Saints Peter & Paul Columbarium and Cemetery (SSPPCC) is owned and operated by Saints Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Church (the “Church”).  
The Church, a 501(c)(3) organization, exists in part to operate and manage SSPPCC for the purpose of providing a peaceful and serene place of final rest for the remains of human beings.  
SSPPCC is managed by a volunteer SSPPCC Committee (the “Committee”) which meets annually for the election of members. It also meets during the year as needed for the transaction of business. 
I. General Rules and Regulations
1. SSPPCC will be open to the public daily from 8a.m. to dusk. 
2. The speed limit on the grounds of SSPPCC is 10 miles per hour. Vehicles must remain on the SSPPCC driveways and are not permitted to drive or park on grass or other areas. Vehicles shall obey all road signs on the property. 3. Children under 13 years of age are not permitted without adult supervision. 
4. Pets are not permitted on the grounds of SSPPCC. Service animals are not considered pets for the purpose of this clause. Service animal owners assume full responsibility for their animals and indemnify SSPPCC for any cause of action that arises from the presence of their service animal on the property.
5. Advertising of any kind is not permitted. 
6. Hunting is not permitted.
7. SSPPCC has no trash or debris pick-up service. Parties contracting to perform any activity at SSPPCC must remove their own trash and debris. Contracting parties agree to pay cleanup costs if their event results in cleanup of trash or debris of any kind.
8. All fees, including but not limited to, grave plots, columbarium niches, grave openings/closings, niche openings/closings, and niche lettering, and Memorial location charges will be determined by the Committee. All fees must be paid in advance and are subject to change. 
9. Burial permits and cremation certifications must be presented to a designated SSPPCC representative prior to services. 
10. Ten percent of each grave plot and niche sale price shall be deposited into the SSPPCC Perpetual Care account.
11. Purchase of a grave plot or niche only provides the purchaser with a Right of Burial or Right of Inurnment in a designated grave plot or niche, respectively. It does not transfer any ownership of the land or structures that comprise SSPPCC.
12. In this document, the term “Memorial” shall mean headstone, flat marker, or family monument.
13. The SSPPCC cemetery shall consist of two distinct sections, one named the Pieta Garden with flat marker Memorials consisting of flat granite markers, with or without a bronze plate (see Section V, Paragraph 16); and another named the Monument Garden with vertical Memorials consisting of granite headstones, including family monuments marking two to four grave plots.
14. Ornamental benches inside the columbarium must be of teak construction. Ornamental benches in the graveyard may be of granite or teak construction so long as design consistency is maintained.
15. Ornamental benches must be located on ground designated by the Committee set aside for that purpose and on a concrete foundation.
16. The Committee retains the sole discretion to interpret and is the final binding arbiter of these Rules and Regulations and all related documents and representations, including but not limited to the Right of Inurnment Sale Contract and the Right of Burial Sale Contract. Should any dispute arise as to Right of Inurnment Sale Contract or Right of Burial Sale Contract, and any related documents, interpretation or meaning, as well as application, interpretation, or meaning of these Rules and Regulations, the sole remedy (should such dispute be at an impasse in the opinion of the Committee) shall be repurchase of the niche or grave plot by SSPPCC at the purchase contract price paid at time of acquisition minus the 10% deposited into the Perpetual Care account.
II. Rights of Burial and Inurnment
1. A Right of Burial or Right of Inurnment may be purchased by visiting the Church website at ssppeaston.org or by calling the Church office at (410) 822-2344. Upon full payment of the grave plot or niche sales price, a Right of Burial or Right of Inurnment Certificate, as applicable, shall be issued to the purchaser.
2. At the time of burial or inurnment, the holder of a Right of Burial or Right of Inurnment Certificate, as applicable, shall designate the person to be buried in the grave or inurned in the niche by submitting an Authorization of Burial or Authorization of Inurnment Form to SSPPCC. No remains may be placed in a niche or grave except those of the person(s) the holder designates for that niche.
3. A Certificate holder, whether it be a Right of Burial Certificate or a Right of Inurnment Certificate, is not conferred any property rights in the Columbarium, in any of its niches, land, or structures, or the Cemetery, in any of its grave plots or land, or in any of the Church’s property. Legal title to the Columbarium and to all niches and to the Cemetery and to all grave plots is held by the Church at all times. In the event of a discrepancy between any Right of Burial Certificate or any Right of Inurnment Certificate and SSPPCC records, the SSPPCC records shall take precedence.
4. A holder of a Right of Burial Certificate or Right of Inurnment Certificate must notify SSPPCC of changes to his or her mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Communications sent by SSPPCC to the holder of a Right of Burial Certificate or Right of Inurnment Certificate at the last address that he or she provided to the SSPPCC shall be deemed received by the owner seven (7) days after the communication is sent. 
5. Only SSPPCC designated Committee members, including the Pastor of the Church, have the right to approve inurnment and burial services held at the columbarium and cemetery. The holder of a Right of Inurnment Certificate possesses the right to place the cremated remains designated by the holder in a specific niche, in accordance with these Rules and Regulations, as amended from time to time. The holder of a Right of Burial Certificate possesses the right to place the remains designated by the holder in a specific grave plot, in accordance with these Rules and Regulations, as amended from time to time.
6. Holders must contact the SSPPCC at the Church office to arrange inurnment or burial services.
7. At the time of purchase of a grave plot, granite location markers shall be placed, at the purchaser’s expense, at the corners of the grave plot.
III. Sales and Exchanges of Grave Plots and Niches 
1. Grave plot and niche sales will be handled by a member of the Committee or such other person so authorized in writing by the Committee. 
2. SSPPCC reserves the right to exchange a grave plot or niche for one of the same cost and in a close proximity to the original location if there has been a human error by a Committee member or designated SSPPCC representative in the recording of a grave plot or niche transaction. SSPPCC shall be held harmless for costs and damages.
3. If a holder of a Right of Burial Certificate or Right of Inurnment Certificate desires to sell a grave plot or niche, SSPPCC is the only party that can purchase the grave plot or niche. Any transfer outside this requirement is null and void. 4. Repurchase price of a grave plot or niche shall be the purchase contract price paid at time of acquisition minus the 10% deposited into the Perpetual Care account.
5. If a Memorial of any kind has been placed on a grave plot or a niche faceplate altered, it must be removed by the holder of the Right of Burial Certificate or Right of Inurnment Certificate, at their expense, prior to resale. In this instance, the altered niche faceplate shall be replaced with a blank niche faceplate identical to the other blank niche faceplates at the SSPPCC columbarium.
6. Sales of grave plots or niches contrary to these Rules and Procedures is strictly prohibited. Selling a grave plot or niche despite this prohibition may result in forfeiture of the Right back to the Church without compensation. 
7. Any enforcement or legal action taken by SSPPCC to enforce this section or any clause thereof shall be reimbursed by the registered holder on SSPPCC records of a Right of Inurnment Certificate or Right of Burial Certificate.
IV. Plantings, Flowers, Shrubbery and Small Free-Standing Items
1. The planting of any trees, flowers, bushes, or shrubs anywhere in SSPPCC is strictly prohibited unless approved by the Committee Secretary in writing after submission of a detailed work and planting plan. Any trees, flowers, bushes, or shrubs are deemed owned exclusively by SSPPCC.
2. Flowers, shrubs, bushes and/or trees may not be planted in a SSPPCC path. 
3. Glass containers may not be used at any place on the SSPPCC property. 
4. No ivy may be planted in the SSPPCC. 
5. Christmas decorations must be removed by February 1st the immediately following calendar year and Easter decorations must be removed within 30 days after Easter. SSPPCC reserves the right to remove any decorations left in the SSPPCC after these dates. SSPPCC shall be held harmless for any aspect of carrying out decoration removal.
Flowers, sprays or other ornamental items must be removed from a gravesite or niche within 2 weeks of the burial, by the Family or the participating funeral director.
6. Gravel, small stones, pebbles, or similar material may not be placed around Memorials, benches, columbarium walls, or plantings in the SSPPCC due to mowing and maintenance hazards.
7. SSPPCC reserves the right to trim any plantings on the grounds.
8. SSPPCC reserves the right to remove, at the grave plot owner's expense, any plantings that are not in compliance with SSPPCC regulations. 
9. Scalping (removal) of the ground around memorials, graves or plantings will not be permitted. 
V. Memorial Regulations 
1. There will be no mausoleums permitted in SSPPCC. 
2. No railings, curbing, or fences surrounding a grave will be permitted. 
3. No statuary, religious symbols, or other personalized grave markings will be allowed to be placed on a grave. 
4. For the sake of maintenance, SSPPCC reserves the right to remove any free-standing objects without liability and with indemnification by the Right of Inurnment Certificate or Right of Burial Certificate holder, including temporary Memorial signage.
5. A Memorial placed on the grave plot(s) must be perpendicular to the grave plot(s) and placed at the head (i.e., within the 2 foot head section of the grave plot(s)). 
6. No information about pet(s) may be inscribed on a separate Memorial or on the owner's Memorial. 
7. If the deceased is a Veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces and the family desires to have the Government-issue marker placed on the grave, the Memorial must comply with these Purposes, Rules and Regulations except as noted in Section V, Rule 11 and Rule 12. 
8. A permanent Memorial must be placed on each grave or family estate lot. A Memorial must be installed by a Memorial Dealer. When a Memorial Dealer requests to place a Memorial, the exact size of the Memorial must be as required by the SSPPCC Committee. 
9. A member of the Committee, or a person so authorized will mark the exact location of the Memorial for a fee. 
10. After the Memorial location is marked, the Memorial Dealer will be notified and has twenty days, weather permitting, to install the foundation. If the foundation is not placed in that time frame, the marking flags will be removed and a second administrative fee will be required.
11. Eickhof Columbaria Inc. is the exclusive engraver for all SSPPCC niche faceplates. Only the Committee can change engraving vendors. No other party may alter the niche faceplate in any way. All inscriptions must comply with the prescribed templates found online at https://ssppcemetery.com. The designated Committee member will review the Inscription Order Form only for template compliance before shipping the Inscription Order Form and niche faceplate to Eickhof Columbaria Inc. The SSPPCC Committee possesses the sole irrefutable right and discretion to instruct Eickhof Columbaria Inc. to disallow an inscription. SSPPCC is not responsible for niche faceplate engraving errors of any nature.  
12. The inscriptions on each headstone, flat marker, or family monument (A family monument is a Memorial that covers up to four plots) shall include at a minimum: (1) the name(s) and (2) the date(s) of birth and death of the deceased (month spelled out-“January 1, 2000” format). Family monuments (where flat markers meeting the inscription requirements of this section are also present) shall include at a minimum a family name. Additional inscriptions are permitted on headstones, flat markers, and family monuments to the extent such inscriptions are determined by the SSPPCC Committee or designated Committee member to be: (1) appropriate, (2) reverent, (3) inoffensive, and (4) not in violation of commercial or intellectual property law (e.g., cartoon characters). The holder of the Right of Burial Certificate shall provide inscription information to the SSPPCC in a format prescribed by the Committee. All Memorial inscriptions must be approved in writing by the designated Committee member. The SSPPCC Committee possesses the sole irrefutable right and discretion not to approve an inscription. Section V, Rule 12 does not apply should a Veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces choose a Standard Government Headstone or Marker issued pursuant to VA Form 40-1330. For a Veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces using a privately purchased headstone or flat marker, a Government-issue size medium medallion issued pursuant to VA Form 40-1330M may be requested by the deceased's next of kin and affixed to the headstone or flat marker by SSPPCC.
13. All Memorials shall be constructed of Northern or Southern Grey Granite. 
14. All Memorials must have a concrete or granite foundation. Foundations under Memorials must meet the following required measurements: Flat marker foundations must be at least three (3) inches longer and wider than each side of the Memorial and eighteen (18) inches deep. Headstones or family monument foundations must be at least three (3) inches longer and wider than each side of the Memorial and eighteen (18) inches deep. No Memorial can be wider than 24 inches, including the foundation. 
15. All single grave headstone Memorials, in the Monument Garden, must be at least two feet in length and at least 30 inches in height, including the base, and no higher than 4 feet, including the base. The height of the Tablet (also called, the Die) (The Tablet or Die is the slab of stone that sits on top of the base and contains the deceased's name and other information.) must be at least 22 inches. The height of the base must be at least 6 inches, but no higher than 8 inches. The length of the base cannot exceed 28 inches. Single grave headstone foundations may not be longer than 34 inches. Compliance is within the sole discretion of the Committee. 
16. Flat markers must be constructed entirely of Northern or Southern Grey granite or of bronze faceplate on a Northern or Southern Grey granite base. Flat marker bronze faceplates must be mounted on a granite base that is two inches longer on each end and two inches wider on the top and bottom edges than the bronze faceplate.  
17. Single grave flat markers must be at least 24 inches long by 12 inches wide, but no longer than 28 inches, NOT including the foundation. Single grave foundations may not be longer than 34 inches. No Memorial can be wider than 24inches, including the foundation (See rule 14 for foundation requirements).
18. One flat marker may mark more than one grave (i.e., family monument) in the Pieta Garden but shall not be longer than 5 feet, 8 inches (68) inches, including the foundation, and must be centered between the graves being marked and shall not encroach on or impede any other graves. Compliance is within the sole discretion of the Committee.
19. Family monuments, dedicated to two or more plots, but no more than four, placed in the Monument Garden must be at least 4 feet, six inches in length, including the Base and the foundation and 30 inches in height, including the base, and no taller than 4 feet, including the Base. The height of the base must be at least 6 inches, but no higher than 8 inches. The total length of the Memorial, including the Base and foundation may not be longer than 5 feet, 8 inches (68 inches). No Memorial can be wider than 24 inches, including the foundation. 
20. SSPPCC reserves the right to remove, at the Burial Certificate holder’s expense with indemnification of SSPPCC, any memorial that is not in compliance with SSPPCC Rules and Regulations.
VI. Burial Specific Rules and Regulations
1. After notification of a funeral, a designated member of the Committee or person so authorized will mark the appropriate grave plot location with the deceased’s name. At the time of notification of a requested burial or inurnment, the person making the request will provide SSPPCC with the name, address, and phone number of the deceased's next of kin or personal representative.  
2. Grave plot openings and closings are to be done by a firm or individual contracted in writing with SSPPCC for this purpose and no others. 
3. All traditional burials shall include an Outer Burial Container consisting of a vault or graveliner. 
4. Cremation burials shall be in an urn vault unless the urn is an urn-vault combination that can be buried without the need for a separate urn vault.  
5. Traditional graves will be single-depth only. 
6. A traditional full-body burial and a single cremated remains burial may be interred in one traditional grave plot. If the cremated remains are buried before the full-body burial, the cremated remains must be placed at the head end of the grave.
7. Cremation burials must be in a permanent type, sealed, impermeable, weatherproof, non-crushable urn. Temporary cremation containers are not permitted for cremation burials.
8. All Outer Burial Containers must be buried below the surface of the ground and covered by at least twenty-two (22) inches of earth. 
9. Cremated remains of the family pet(s) may be placed in the casket of the owner but must be in a separate permanent type, sealed, impermeable, weatherproof, non-crushable urn. 
10. Cremated remains of pets may not be placed in an individual grave without the full-body remains of its owner. 
11. All graves must be no smaller than 10 feet long and 3.5 feet wide.
12. SSPPCC reserves the right to refuse burial should the remains not comply with the requirements of these Rules and Regulations.
VII. Columbarium Specific Rules and Regulations 
1. Cremated remains may not be spread anywhere on the grounds of the Church, including SSPPCC. 
2. Each cremated remains must be in a permanent type, sealed, impermeable, weatherproof, non-crushable urn that fits inside the niche.  
3. There may be no niche modifications in order to fit cremated remains.
4. Cremated remains of a family pet(s) may be placed in the niche with its owner. However, cremated remains of pets may not be placed in a niche without cremated remains of its owner. 
5. The lettering on the faceplate of each niche must be in a form and style approved by the SSPPCC Committee. No exceptions shall be made.
6. No information about the pet may be inscribed on the niche faceplate.
7. There shall be no attachments to niche faceplates. 
8. A service emblem provided by the United States Veterans Administration may be placed on the face of the niche cover but only upon written approval and only under supervision of Committee. 
9. SSPPCC reserves the right to refuse inurnment should cremated remains not comply with the requirements of these Rules and Regulations.
VIII. Disclaimer 
1. SSPPCC shall not be liable for loss or damage caused by an act of God, common enemy, thieves, vandals, strikes, malicious mischief, unavoidable accidents, riots, pandemic, or actions of any military or civil authority. 
2. SSPPCC is not responsible for damage to Memorials or for the theft of flowers, flower holders, vases, shrubbery, or other grave plot or niche adornments. 
3. SSPPCC is not liable or responsible for damage, loss of property, or an injury of any nature to persons who visit SSPPCC or attend funeral services. Holders of a Right of Inurnment Certificate or Right of Burial Certificate and contracting service providers to SSPPCC agree to indemnify the SSPPCC for any costs, including attorney fees and judgments, for any cause of action that may arise by visitors related to their Right of Inurnment or Right of Burial.
4. SSPPCC assumes no responsibility or liability for any defect or deterioration of any memorial, niche faceplate, or other adornment. Holders of a Right of Inurnment Certificate or Right of Burial Certificate and contracting service providers to SSPPCC agree to indemnify the SSPPCC for any costs, including attorney fees and judgments, for any cause of action that may arise for defect or deterioration of any Memorial, niche faceplate, or adornment.
IX. Enforcement 
1. The enforcement of these Rules and Regulations shall be by the Committee and/or its designated representative(s). 2. The Committee and/or its designated representative(s) shall have the right to supervise and control activities of all persons using or presenting at SSPPCC, including, but not limited to, the conduct at funerals, traffic, contractors, employees, holders of a Right of Inurnment Certificate or Right of Burial Certificate, and visitors. 
3. Any damage done to any SSPPCC property, including but limited to graves, niches, walks, drives, trees, shrubs, or any other property by dealers or contractors, or their agents, shall be promptly repaired by the dealer or contractor to the satisfaction of the Committee. Holders of a Right of Inurnment Certificate or Right of Burial Certificate shall indemnify SSPPCC for any contractor or dealer hired by such holder for services related to the Right of Inurnment or Right of Burial.
4. Besides being subject to these Rules and Regulations, all interments, inurnments, disinterments, and disinurnments of remains are subject to the law of the State of Maryland. 
X. Amendment 
1. SSPPCC reserves the right to amend, supplement or change these Rules and Regulations as may be necessary from time to time. 
Saints Peter & Paul Columbarium and CemeteryAdopted: October 15, 2020 Last Revised: July 20, 2022