The Old Rugged Cross

As Easter approaches, here is the symbol of Christianity, the faith that began with a death by crucifixion. An ending, a Resurrection, a new beginning, a never-ending circle.

The stonecutter who carved this Celtic cross was an emigrant of Ireland. Leaving forever an impoverished, troubled land, he knew something about a personal resurrection when he arrived in the US and started over.

His new home became Chicopee, a factory town in Western Massachusetts, and that is where this cross stands in front of the Holy Name of Jesus Church. His name was Daniel A. Lynch, and the monument at his gravesite in the cemetery down the street is more simple, if quite as large.

His sons took care of that; they were stonecutters, too. They kept his tools. They kept the faith. This cross from the 19th century remains.