December 31, 2019   |   3:00 pm
 

Each year, St. Columba Church commemorates Oakland’s victims of homicide by placing a cross with the victim’s name in the front garden of the Church. We then come together each New Year’s Eve to remember those who have died and to remove the crosses.

Please join us in prayer for those who tragically lost their lives as a result of violence during this past year and to show our love and support fo rthe family and friends who have experienced the grief of losing one to homicide.

We gather in the Church for some prayer and comments. We then proceed to the front garden for the Ceremony of the Crosses where the victims’ names will be read aloud and the crosses removed. When all the crosses have been removed, we proceed back into the church and lay the crosses at the foot of the altar. Family members of the deceased who have received crosses may keep them as a remembrance of their loved one.

The ceremony concludes with a prayer.
 

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St. Columba Parish appreciates the support provided the Catholic Charities of the East Bay in preparationfor this service.