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Common Questions
General
Today, advanced planning and prepayment of funerals/burials are becoming common. Advance planning will provide you with more time to review your options and give you a choice in your own funeral services. It will provide you with the peace of mind that everything is taken care of, relieving your family of the emotional and financial burden that comes with making arrangements when a loved one passes away. At CFCS Colorado, we have experienced Pre-Need Counselors available to assist you with your prearrangements.
Today, advance planning and prepayment of funerals/burials are becoming common. Advance planning will provide you with more time to review your options and give you a choice in you own funeral services. It will provide you with the peace of mind that everything is taken care of, relieving your family of the emotional and financial burden that comes with making arrangements when a loved one passes away. At CFCS Colorado, we have experienced Pre-Need Counselors available to assist you with your prearrangements.
By making arrangements in advance, families can avoid confusion at the time of bereavement and assure themselves of cremation arrangements they desire, and at a price they wish to pay. Learn more about pre-planning or contact a CFCS Colorado Counselor today.
In 2016, physician-assisted suicide was legalized in Colorado when voters approved Proposition 106, “Access to Medical Aid in Dying.” Colorado statues have been changed to include the Colorado End-of-Life Options Act, which allows Colorado doctors to write a suicide prescription for a consenting person who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness with six months or less to live.
Funeral Services
A competent adult has the right and power to choose and declare their wishes for arrangements after their death. A Declaration of Disposition of Last Remains form is provided in Colorado law and your completed form should be retained with personal records such as a will, codicil, trust, or power of attorney. Please refer to Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) § 15-19-104 and 15-19-107.
The right to make final decisions about a decedent’s body and funeral services are determined by Colorado law. Please refer to Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) § 15-19-106.
Yes, we serve all faiths and offer services to everybody. We are here to offer you guidance and support during your time of need.
Yes, our dedicated funeral home staff works directly with the National Cemetery and Veterans Affairs (VA) offices to arrange burial at Fort Logan National Cemetery and for VA Veteran memorial items.
Yes. Our staff is trained to complete all necessary paperwork to begin the benefits process.
Funeral costs vary depending on the mortuary and type of services selected. There are two types of costs associated with a funeral: (1) services by the mortuary and (2) merchandise such as a casket or urn.
Funeral costs may be paid by cash, checks, VISA, MasterCard and Discover.
All charges involving the mortuary’s services and merchandise are all from our professional staff. We will provide a general price list with all charges.
Today, advance planning and prepayment of funerals/burials are becoming common. Advanced planning will provide you with more time to review your options and give you a choice in you own funeral services. It will provide you with the peace of mind that everything is taken care of, relieving your family of the emotional and financial burden that comes with making arrangements when a loved one passes away. At CFCS Colorado, we have experienced Pre-Need Counselors available to assist you with your prearrangements.
By making arrangements in advance, families can avoid confusion at the time of bereavement and assure themselves of cremation arrangements they desire, and at a price they wish to pay. Learn more about pre-planning or contact a CFCS Colorado Planner today.
Embalming is the temporary preservation of a deceased’s remains. It is not required by law but is a common practice when a viewing is planned. Embalming is required for entombment in a mausoleum crypt.
Unique and personalized obituaries created to provide families of the deceased a timeless resource offering remembrance of a loved one’s life at no cost when mortuary services are provided by the Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary.
Cremation Services
While there is a preference for traditional burial, as Christ was buried in the tomb, the Church has permitted cremation for over 50 years. Cremation should respect the human body and belief in the Resurrection. To respect the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Church teaches that cremated remains should be kept together (not scattered or divided) and interred in a sacred burial space, preferably in the consecrated grounds of a Catholic Cemetery.
To learn more, please refer to the documents below:
- Instruction Ad resurgendum cum Christo - Regarding the Burial of the Deceased and the Conservation of the Ashes in the Case of Cremation – Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (click here)
- Cremation and the Order of Christian Funerals – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) (click here)
- Proper Disposition of Bodily Remains – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) (click here)
The preference is for cremation to occur following the funeral liturgy so that the body can be present for the vigil and funeral services. However, it is possible to have a funeral service with the cremated remains present.
The Catholic Church teaches that cremated remains should be kept together (not scattered or divided) to respect the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit and be laid to rest in a sacred burial space, preferably interred in the consecrated grounds of a Catholic cemetery.
“The cremated remains of a body should be treated with the same respect given to the human body from which they come. This includes the use of a worthy vessel to contain the ashes, the manner in which they are carried, and the care and attention to appropriate placement and transport, and the final disposition. The cremated remains should be buried in a grave or entombed in a mausoleum or columbarium. The practice of scattering cremated remains on the sea, from the air, or on the ground, or keeping cremated remains at the home of a relative or friend of the deceased are not the reverent disposition that the Church requires.” (Order of Christian Funerals no. 417)
Our cemeteries are sacred places for the living to memorialize their loved ones, with a variety of burial choices including personalized glass front niches and beautiful cremation burial sites.
Financial concerns should never stop one from choosing a place of permanent remembrance. As such, we also provide to people of all faiths the dignified placement of cremated remains at no cost to the family with our Crypt of All Souls Program.
A companion urn is a cremation urn that can hold the cremated remains of two people, for example, spouses. A companion urn has a separate internal compartment for each person’s cremated remains, so that they will remain separate and not be comingled.
In 2021, Colorado became the second state in the country to allow for “human body composting,” also referred to as natural organic reduction, which is a process that accelerates the biological decomposition of a deceased person’s body, turning it into soil.
Concerning Colorado’s Human Remains Natural Reduction Soil
Bill (SB 21-006), the Colorado Catholic Conference, the united voice of the
Catholic Bishops of Colorado, advised, “The Catholic Church teaches that human
life and the human body are sacred, and the dignity of the human person is the
foundation of a moral society. The conversion of human remains to soil does not
promote human dignity. The Church’s objection is based on its belief that man
is made in God’s image and likeness as a unified compositum of body and soul.
While the Church does allow for cremation with limitations, the reduction of
human remains into soil is not consistent with the Church’s theology of bodily
resurrection and the promotion of human dignity […].”
“The guidance offered by the Congregation regarding burial and cremation reflects the Church’s overarching concern that due respect be shown to the bodily remains of the deceased in a way that gives visible witness to our faith and hope in the resurrection of the body. Unfortunately, the two most prominent newer methods for disposition of bodily remains that are proposed as alternatives to burial and cremation, alkaline hydrolysis and human composting, fail to meet this criterion.” (Proper Disposition of Bodily Remains no. 8 – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Alkaline hydrolysis, sometimes referred to as "water cremation," is a process
that places a body into a metal tank containing a chemical mixture of water and
alkali and then subjects it to both high temperature and high pressure in order
to speed decomposition.
“The guidance offered by the Congregation regarding burial and cremation reflects the Church’s overarching concern that due respect be shown to the bodily remains of the deceased in a way that gives visible witness to our faith and hope in the resurrection of the body. Unfortunately, the two most prominent newer methods for disposition of bodily remains that are proposed as alternatives to burial and cremation, alkaline hydrolysis and human composting, fail to meet this criterion.” (Proper Disposition of Bodily Remains no. 8 – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
“This procedure [alkaline hydrolysis] does not show adequate respect for the human body, nor express hope in the resurrection.” (Proper Disposition of Bodily Remains no. 10 – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Cemetery Services
Yes, we serve all faiths and anyone is able to be buried at Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries. We are here to offer you guidance and support during your time of need.
A mausoleum is a structure used for above ground internment of the deceased. There are large mausoleums for the interment and many deceased people, and there are smaller, private mausoleums for the interment of a specific number of family members.
Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery has many mausoleums and numerous private mausoleums on its 400-acre property.
A crypt is a chamber used for containing the remains of the deceased, such as in a mausoleum or a church. A standard crypt will contain a single casket. A companion crypt can contain two caskets lined up end-to-end.
A columbarium is a structure with built-in niche spaces for the internment of cremated remains contained within an urn. A columbarium can be in the form of a wall inside or outside of a building, such as a mausoleum or church. A columbarium can also be in the form of a free-standing structure such as the Stations of the Cross Columbarium at Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery and St. Michael the Archangel Columbarium at St. Simeon Catholic Cemetery.
A cremation niche is an above-ground space, usually within a columbarium, used for the internment of the cremated remains contained within an urn. A standard cremation niche will contain a single urn. A companion niche can contain two urns. Some cremation niches have glass fronts and/or sides and allow for the display of pictures and special momentos representing the deceased's life..
A companion cremation niche is a cremation niche that is large enough to contain two standard-sized cremation urns or a companion cremation urn. For example, the cremation urns of spouses.
A burial vault is an outer container, usually made of concrete and/or metal, that encloses a casket in a ground burial plot, or grave. It helps to protect the casket from collapsing in on itself from the weight of the soil above it. Burial vaults can also be lined and sealed to protect against subsoil elements.
A cremation urn vault is a lined and sealed outer receptacle that houses the cremation urn in a ground burial plot, or grave, protecting it from the weight of the soil above it and against subsoil elements.
A double depth-grave is a burial lot space designed and constructed to a depth which will accommodate two separate caskets, each encased in a grave liner or vault. Burial can be at the same time or at different times in such a manner that one casket is placed above the other. A double-depth grave can be a more cost-effective way to bury two loved ones as opposed to two separate burial plots.
Monument Shop
Our CFCS Monument Shop is located on the grounds of Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery and serves both Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries.
Our dedicated and knowledgeable Family Service Advisors will assist you in selecting the right memorial for your loved one in four simple steps.
- Step 1: Contact and meet with one of our Family Service Advisors to begin the process.
- Step 2: Select the size, shape, color, and style of the memorial.
- Step 3: Design a personalized memorial to honor the life of your loved one.
- Step 4: Approve your layout and finalize your financial arrangements.
10 Reasons Why Your Memorial Should be Purchased from the CFCS Monument Shop:
- As a ministry of the Archdiocese of Denver, we provide perpetual care for our cemeteries and we will always be in business.
- We have trained counselors who are familiar with your grave and its requirements.
- We purchase your memorial directly from the manufacturer; there are no middlemen.
- We will be sure that only the very best material is used for your memorial. We are diligent with the appearance and upkeep of our cemetery grounds.
- Our staff knows you. We have served you before or during your time of loss.
- We apply any additional income from your memorial purchase to continue beautification of our cemetery.
- We are completely open with all our charges – there are no hidden fees. We take care of all the details so you don’t have to worry about a thing.
- We are responsible for any damage that may occur during the placement of memorials purchased through us. We have trained professionals to efficiently handle your memorial placement.
- We handle your future needs directly through our office.
- We have assumed the responsibility of caring for your loved one’s grave. It’s only natural that you should place your memorial under the same personal care and attention the resting place requires.
A foundation is a concrete slab on which grave markers and memorials are placed. Foundations are important because they help to prevent the grave marker or memorial from tipping or settling. Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries require foundations for memorials and grave markers.
A flat memorial, sometimes called a flush memorial, is a grave marker which lies flat on the ground at the head of the grave, flush with the grass. Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries require flat memorials to sit on a foundation.
A slant memorial is a grave marker tablet with a slanted face. Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries require slant memorials to sit on a foundation.
A pillow memorial is a shorter style of a slanted grave marker which sits flat on the ground with the front of the stone angled back, creating a wedge shape. Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries require pillow memorials to sit on a foundation.
An upright memorial is a vertical grave marker tablet. Unlike flat memorials, upright memorials can be seen and admired from a distance. Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries require upright memorials to sit on a foundation.
A memorial pedestal is a stone block which may support a decorative top such as a statue and can be used as a headstone to mark a grave or as an additional memorial. A cremation pedestal is a type of memorial pedestal that has a compartment to hold a cremation urn. Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries require cremation pedestals to sit on a foundation.
A memorial bench can be used as a headstone to mark a grave or as an additional memorial and serves as both a memorial and a place for a visitor to rest. Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries require memorial benches to sit on a foundation.
A cremation bench is a type of memorial bench that has a compartment to hold a cremation urn. Mt. Olivet and St. Simeon Catholic Cemeteries require cremation benches to sit on a foundation.
For questions about our Funeral, Cremation, and Cemetery Services, contact one of our friendly and expirienced staff today at 720.943.8091 or contact us with the form below.
