Happy Valley
St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery
St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery is located at Happy Valley, next to the Hong Kong Cemetery and Muslim Cemetery, and the public usually call it as Happy Valley Catholic Cemetery.
The cemetery is named after St. Michael, one of the four archangels, means "Who is like God."
In the Bible, St. Michael is one of the archangels who protect the Israelites (Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1). He is renowned for defeating the huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil, and its messengers (Revelation 12:7).
The Church honors him as the guardian angel of the New Testament people. St. Michael appears in both the Old and New Testaments and is the leader in heaven defense against the forces of darkness. He is the patron saint of artists, knights, sailors, police officers, the sick, and soldiers.
During the founding period of Hong Kong, the sanitary condition is quite poor. At that time, people are lack of knowledge about tropical viruses which led to widespread deaths. In 1842, Father Joseph arrived Hong Kong and immediately applied for a land from the government for burying Catholic deceased permanently. The government approved the application and allocated a place in Wan Chai, now known as St. Francis Street and Sau Wa Fong, establishing the first Roman Catholic cemetery in Hong Kong.
Later on due to rapid population growth, the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong applied for another place as a cemetery to meet the burial needs. In 1848, the government allocated a land at the north of the Hong Kong Cemetery in Wong Nai Chung to the Diocese, with the condition that returning the Wan Chai Cemetery back to the government. The Catholic cemetery was then relocated to its current location in Happy Valley.
Each gravestone inside the cemetery not only represent the unwavering faith of the deceased but also reflect the beliefs and value of living, death and eternal life after death.
You can understand more from the book 《米高與惡龍 — 十九世紀聖彌額爾墳場與香港社會》written in Chinese by Rev Louis Ha.
The gateway of the cemetery was built in 1848, and the chapel which located at the center of the cemetery was built in 1916, both exhibit Italian Renaissance architectural style. The chapel and the gateway were designated as Grade II historic buildings in 2009. The artistic sculptures and burial lots inside the St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery are rich in religious elements.
It provides Permanent Burial Lots/Urn Burial Lots, Niches, Graveyard for deceased priests and Religious Institutes.
Allocation of niches has stopped since mid-1988.
