Memorial Rock Ceremony
Each week during rounds, Evelyn’s House staff participate in a rock ceremony. Each staff member picks a rock for a patient who passed the week before and collectively decorate the rock based on what attributes or gifts they learned about the patient from personal experience or through work with families. The rocks are then placed in the center courtyard.
The rock ceremony is an extension of Evelyn’s House blessing that took place on June 16, 2017 in which Jack Sisk, past BJC General Counsel and current curator of the Living Insights Center referenced the stones at the Cruz de Ferro in Spain. The blessing was based on the 800 kilometers spiritual pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago (Saint James Way) in which pilgrims carry rocks for approximately 600 miles and place them near the end of their journey on a “mountain” of rocks dating back over 800 years.
The rock ceremony at Evelyn’s House was created with this pilgrimage in mind. The staff use the symbol of the rock as a foundation of the house and to symbolize the burdens we all carry. In essence, the staff, carry the patients and families on their final leg of their journey.