Faith Journey - City Central

Monday morning is my biking day, but on this particular Monday morning of 12 August 2013, I was not feeling up to it.  I had returned from a week's holiday in Vietnam and had eaten too much "pho" and now feeling a little lethargic from a week of inactivity. So I just let the morning pass lazily, reading the papers and revisiting some of the things I saw and experienced in Vietnam.  Grace had left for the Canossion School for Hearing Impaired where she spends half a day with the hearing -impaired students to improve their oral English ability.  The cloudy day outside was so inviting  - that I decided to do the City Central Church pilgrimage - giving myself 3 hours to cover 5 churches -  not a lot of time but then most of the stops were centred around Bras Basah Road.

Church of Sacred Heart

I started from home at 2 pm and and it took me 30 minutes to reach the Church of the Sacred Heart in Clemenceu Avenue.  I was in luck as the first person I saw was Fr Paul, he was on his afternoon rounds and was saying his prayers at the Grotto.  After some pleasantries, I went inside the church to do the usual - prayers for family and friends.  This church, built in 1910 was originally for Cantonese speaking congregation - it was nicely renovated a few years ago with a lively interior.   I am quite impressed by the choir the last time I was there.  I was told that the church feeds the hungry daily.

Cathedral of Good Shepherd

The next stop is the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, where the Archbishop has residence.  The first and oldest Catholic church in Singapore, it was completed in 1847, largely through the efforts of Fr Jean Marie Beurel (MEP).  The British had built the St Andrew's Cathedral a few years earlier. 

Nails and Planks on the Pillars

I went inside to spend some quiet moments - there were the few tourists and devotees of the Divine Mercy.  The interior looked old and well preserved with many relics and tombs of former priests, after all it is more than 150 years old. The grounds and the building structure is in urgent need of repairs.  I saw some small potholes made by earth movements causing structural damage to the walls and pillars.  The many nails and planks on the pillars reminded me of the cruxifiction of Jesus Christ. Funds are now needed to restore the cathedral to its former glory as the first and oldest Catholic church in Singapore

Just outside the gates of the Cathedral is CHIJMES an upmarket place for entertainment and food .  The preserved buildings were the former Convent of the Holy Infant School for girls (1854).  CHIJ as it was known was the oldest Convent, school and orphanage run by the Catholic Church in Singapore.  Grace will tell me stories of the Convent as she had spent 10 years of schooling there.  The old Convent Chapel is preserved but not used for Church services, it is rented out for weddings and other functions.  Today CHIJ school is in Toa Payoh and is still supervised by the IJ Sisters.

Chijmes

Across Bras Basah Road is the Singapore Art Museum (SAM)  - the former St Joseph's Institution (SJI) a boys' school run by the Christian La Salle Brothers from 1852.  SJI had moulded many of the nation's' leaders including President Tony Tan and DPM Teo Chee Hean.   Today SJI is at its new campus in Malcom Road.

St Joseph's Institution

Singapore Art Museum (SAM)

 Just behind the Art Museum in Queen Street is the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (1870). In the early days this church served the Chinese and Tamil speaking communities.  I was told that for many Chinese Catholics, this church was regarded as the "mother church" because it was through the ministry of this church that someone in the family first became a Catholic.

The tomb of Fr Pierre Paris is found in the church.  Fr Paris who spoke 5 local languages: Cantonese and Hakka, Malay, Tamil and Christao (Portugese spoken in Melaka) spent 28 years in Singapore and Malaysia.  Renovation work was ongoing while I toured the grounds.  From the church grounds I could see a building with markings as "Sino-English School" (1837), supervised by Fr Becheras of the Church.  This school was later renamed the Catholic High School and to this day is one of the top schools in Singapore where its strength lies in its bilingual curriculum.  Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spent his schooldays through the gates of this building.  Today Catholic High School is at its new premises in Bishan.

It was 3.45 pm and I need to push on - next is the church of Saint Joseph at Victoria Street, just a short walk from where I was at Queen's Street.  Saint Joseph's Church was built in 1851 by the Portuguese Mission for Portuguese and

St Joseph's Church

Eurasians - it was later transferred to the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Singapore in 1981.  This church is also currently being renovated with help from the National Heritage Board since it has been gazetted a National Monument.  I couldn't help but to walk into the church to look at the century old stained glass panels and said my prayers for peace and forgiveness.

Stained Glass Panels at St Joseph's Church

My last stop was the Church of the Lady of Lourdes (1888) at Ophir Road.  So I biked along busy Queen Street and almost missed the church - but found it as I turn by head back - I had ridden past the buildings in my eagerness to locate it.  This church built in 1888 was the first Tamil church in Singapore.  It was also gazetted as a National Monument in 2005.  Inside, the church was beautifully decorated after the renovation in 2010.  There are several Tamil masses a week besides the English masses.

Lady of Lourdes Church

Lady of Lourdes Church

As it was getting close to rush hour traffic, I rode home taking the Stamford/Fort Canning and Clemenceu Roads then to River Valley and back to Henderson Road in 40 minutes - I had to stop at Henderson Market for a cool Ice kachang ($1.20) and getting home at 5.15pm  - 15 minutes behind schedule.