Year of Faith - Pilgrimage on Mountain Bike - City East

In June, I went on a long bike ride with my friend Paul to Kampong Buangkok, starting from the Church of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin via Punggol Waterways.  It was a very fruitful ride, because along the way, I learned quite a few things, like the health benefits of the seed of the Sky Fruit.  We also found the location of the old kampongs in Lorong Buangkok.  I also had guided tour of the Church.  This was where Paul suggested that we should take a Faith Journey on bicycles to all the Catholic churches in Singapore.  This started me to do some planning to bring the project to fruition.

Church of St Bernadette

I sounded some of my biking friends, but none could commit as they had work or other commitments - so I decided to start on my own and then perhaps others will join me in any of the rides.

On a sunny Wed morning of 17 July 2013, I started at 8 am on my first of the many faith journeys.  My first stop was the Church of St Bernadette (1959) at Zion Road,  this took me about 20 minutes ride from home.  St Bernadette's Church can be considered "my home church" as my faith was nurtured here, it was also the church where I was married and later baptised, where many of my friends were married in.  I therefore spent some quiet moments inside the church praying for my family and friends.

After taking a few photos, I was on my way along Zion Road towards Bukit Theresa off Kampong Bahru, reaching there in a about 15 minutes.  I went up the steep slope to the Carmalite Monastery (1938) the powerhouse of prayers.  I did not go inside as it was not visiting time - so after quiet prayers I rode to Church of St Teresa (1929) which was a few hundred meters away. This church initially served Hokkien speaking Catholics.  An unfortunate accident occurred during the construction of the church when Fr Emile Joseph Marriete was killed by a falling plank while inspecting the site. I then said a short prayers at the cupola. St Teresa's church is also close to my family - the children attended Sunday school - and Grace and her friends started the Library and also managed the church canteen for 13 years .

Carmalite Monastery

Church of St Teresa

Next stop was the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Commonwealth Drive.  I decided to take the old KTM railway tracks - the entrance is at Silat road and will lead directly to the Church of Blessed Sacrament.  The bike ride was a little bumpy even though there were no rails or sleepers - soon I was picking up speed in the deserted trail as I could see stormy clouds ahead and true enough before long the rains came and I had to stop below an overhead road to take shelter. I rested for a short while and when the rain stopped temporarily, I mad a dash along the tracks and was out at Tanglin Halt which was quite close to the Church.  I went inside the church to say my prayers - while a little wet.

KTM Trail

 The Church of Blessed Sacrament built in 1963 is a national monument because of its iconic structure.  I remebered quite well that in 1964,  a few architecture student friends took me for a guided tour of this newly built church designed by Architect YG Dowsett. We were shown some design aspects of this church.   That was half a century ago. Then the rain poured for quite a good 20 minutes while I took refuge inside this lovely church supervised by the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary.  When the rain stopped it was already 11.30 am and although I had planned to end the trip at the Church of the Holy Cross at Clementi Road, I decided to head back home as the roads were quite wet and slippery. 

Church of Blessed Sacrament

Church of Holy Cross

Three days later, on a Sat morning, I took the bike out to the Church of the Holy Cross (1980) at Clementi Road. This is also a lovely church which was renovated a few years ago. I left after saying my prayers at the grotto.