By Gretchen Keiser

A congregation of more than 100 processed out the front door of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta on a recent evening and into a basement entry to a crypt area.

They were following the same path outlined in a newspaper article of June 1884 when the youthful pastor who had died of tuberculosis, Father Thomas Francis Cleary, was mourned and placed in a burial vault under the historic church. He was interred, according to the newspaper story, next to the burial place of the Shrine's most famous pastor, Father Thomas O'Reilly.

In January, 1983, after a terrible fire almost destroyed the Shrine, it was announced that an unmarked crypt in the Shrine's basement had been discovered and the burial places of Father O'Reilly and Father Cleary re-found.

On Oct. 22, 1988, that restored crypt, now clearly marked and visible, was blessed and rededicated by Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, SSJ. The site will now be available to visitors, both Catholics seeking to recall and reflect upon their history in Georgia, and the general public, who are interested in Atlanta's past and know of the courageous deeds of Father O'Reilly in saving five churches and other public buildings from the deliberate destruction of Atlanta by General William Tecumseh Sherman. The archdiocese provided for the restoration.

The site, with a marble entryway and a mahogany passage leads visitors to an arched crypt where the burial places are visible through Plexiglas and distinguished by historical markers.

Archbishop Marino praised the preservation of this "important part of Catholic history" and expressed hope that the place would inspire the kind of courage, dedication and total devotion shown by these pastors "to a God who is faithful to His people."