The long awaited reopening of Novena Church, after a three-year closure for the its impressive new church building, was greeted by a crowd of several thousands worshippers at its first mass celebrated at 6.30 pm yesterday. A queue to enter the church had formed some three hours before the church was due to open its at 4.30 pm and by 4.45 pm, the 1,500 seat capacity church was already filled.
A glimpse at the insides of the new church.
The celebration of the first mass at the church comes just over three years since the last mass was celebrated in the old church on 28 September 2014. The old church was closed from October of that year with masses held at SJI Junior and Novena services held at the Church of the Risen Christ in Toa Payoh in the interim. The popular Novena services, which have long coloured Saturdays along the stretch of Thomson Road at which the church is located, resumes today with and its first Sunday masses will be held tomorrow.
Mass and Novena Service Times
Photographs from the first mass
A first glimpse of the new next to the old.
Stairway to heaven.
The 1500 seat capacity new church building was filled in a matter of minutes.
And within 15 minutes of opening, the old section of the church was also filled.
A section of the crowd.
Stained glass windows.
The new church’s first mass, dedicated to the Archangels, begins at 6.30 pm.
The first sermon.
The choir.
The crowd waiting to get in to see the new church.
In Singapore, the familiar becomes unfamiliar in the blink of an eye. The end of September brought with it more than a fair share of goodbyes to places some of us have grown attached to. One that was especially hard to say goodbye to was a place I have grown especially fond of through my interactions with it over a period of almost half a century, the Church of St. Alphonsus, which closed at the end of September for redevelopment.
A final prayer outside the locked gates of the closed church the morning after.
In the case of St. Alphonsus, popularly known as Novena Church, it isn’t of course a complete goodbye. The building that housed the church, very recognisable through its distinctive triple-arc pediment – a landmark along Thomson Road, will not be torn down as it has been gazetted for conservation in 2011. It will however, be dominated by a much larger structure once the redevelopment is complete – that being a new and much larger church building that will come up in place of the site occupied by St. Clement’s Pastoral Centre and another very recognisable structure, the church’s bell tower.
A parting glance …
Better known perhaps for the devotional services it holds through the course of the day every Saturday that brings a crowd to the area – the Novena sessions that gives the church and the area (including an MRT station) their names, the church came into being on its current site in May 1950, when it was consecrated as the new Redemptorist chapel – the order having moved from a site down the road currently occupied by Thomson Medical Centre at which it started the Novena services after the war in 1945.
The chapel as it had originally looked (Novena Church on Twitter).
The building as we know it today, took on its current form in the latter half of the 1950s. A bell tower and the Redemptorist Residence was added in 1956 and the pediment and a circular stained glass panel of Our Mother of Perpetual Help was added in 1959.
The circular stained glass panel seen through the closed gates of the church.
The bell tower.
The weekly services is what gives the area its flavour, when huge crowds descend on the area every Saturday, crowds that will certainly be missed during the two-year redevelopment period when Novena services are held instead in the Church of Risen Christ in Toa Payoh. I remember it being particularly lively at the end of the 1960s and perhaps the early 1970s – when crowds thronged the sidewalks down the slope from the church where many food vendors would be found.
An aerial view showing the church with its new pediment and the Redemptorist Residence in 1959 (Novena Church on Twitter).
Also missed will be the burst of colour that the area sees once a year over the first weekend in September, when the church’s façade is very brightly decorated with a flowers for the annual Novena procession, although the scale of the decorations have become more modest in its latter years. The procession, the 61st of which was held in September, sees crowds in excess of 10,000 spilling into the open car park space that is arrange on two terraces – a space that will be largely altered due to the construction of an underground car park.
Decorations during the annual procession in 1987.
The church held its last services over the weekend of the 27th and 28th September and its grilled gates were closed following the last service. Besides hosting Novena services, the Church of the Risen Christ will also host weekday masses. Sunday masses will during the period of closure be held at St. Joseph’s Institution Junior in Essex Road. More information can be found at the Novena Church website.
Silent corridors at the Redemptorist Residence the morning after.
Parting glances …
The morning after
The Bell Tower
The Church
The Redemptorist Residence and St. Clement’s Pastoral Centre
Those familiar with what has come to be referred to as the Novena area of Singapore would probably know of an event, the Novena Procession in honour of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, once a year which sees crowds filling the two terraces used as car parking space in front of Novena Church. The event, held every first Sunday in September, is one which through much of its history, has also brought much colour to the area with beautiful floral decorations being put up on the church’s rather well known façade and on the two retaining walls flanking the church.
Decorations during the annual procession in 1987.
This year’s event which was held on 1 September 2013, which attracted a crowd of some 10,000, was one which also celebrated its 60th anniversary in Singapore and is the 61st edition of a tradition which was started by Fr. William Dowling in 1953. From the inaugural procession held on 21 June 1953, the annual event has attracted huge crowds – there have been occasions when crowds spilled onto the slopes leading down to Thomson Road and even the sidewalks on both sides of the busy street. The significance of the occasion also saw the Archbishop of Singapore, The Most Rev Msgr William Goh; the Superior General of the Redemptorists Fr. Michael Brehl; and Fr Patrick Massang , the Vice-Provincial of Singapore/Malaysia in attendance with Fr. Brehl giving the sermon.
Decorations at this year’s procession.
Despite the treat of a storm, crowds gathered well in advance with blue skies seen just before the start.
An image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help being carried during the procession.
The Most Rev Msgr William Goh, the Archbishop of Singapore.
The procession which for many in the crowd, including for one man who has attended every procession since 1953, is a means to thank Mary, “Our Lady of Perpetual Help” for the many intercessions made and would have involved nine weeks of devotions in the lead-up to it. The practice of devotions to Our Lady of Perpetual Help is one that is popular with many followers and non-followers of the Catholic faith in Singapore and is one which sees the devotional sessions held every Saturday at the church, packed through the day. The devotional session is called a ‘Novena’ from the Latin word ‘novem‘ for nine as it does involve prayers made over nine consecutive occasions and is what has given its name not only to the church (which properly is the Church of St. Alphonsus), but also to the area and to the MRT station which now serves the area. The practice is one that is promoted by the religious community which runs the church, the Redemptorists, who traced their history in Singapore back to 1935.
The Archbishop with the image of Our Lady.
Fr. Michael Brehl delivering the sermon.
L-R: Fr. Simon Tan, Rector of St. Alphonsus; Fr. Patrick Massang, Vice-Provincial of Singapore and Malaysia; and Archbishop William Goh.
The crown after the blessing.
Archbishop William Goh crowing the image.
The practice of putting up floral decorations on the church’s front – there have been some very elaborate and beautiful ones put up in the past, goes back to 1959, when Redemptorist Brother Casimir Godebye, came up with the idea, with many in the congregation donating flowers for the effort. The decorations have of late, including this year’s, have become a lot simpler in form compared to the decorations of that I have seen in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s – I did dig up some photographs of the one put up during the procession that was put up in celebration that coincided with the Marian Year in 1987 which does show how beautiful the sight of the decorations – particularly when illuminated at night, could be.
More photographs from 1987
This year’s celebration will also be one of the last that will see it celebrated as has been for the last 60 years in front of the old church – expansion work planned for the church which will see a new church building built next to the old (which has conservation status), is slated to be carried out after next year’s procession. Estimated to cost some S$45 million, the fund raising efforts have so far raised just above half of the amount necessary – work will commence once 70% of the estimated costs have been raised.
More photographs from this year’s procession
Archbishop William Goh addressing the crowd.
Fr. Simon Tan speaking.
A video made for the 60th Anniversary looking back at the history of the Procession
Together with 9 other bloggers and thanks to Tigerair Philippines and the Philippine Department of Tourism, I found myself on a dream trip to Boracay in July 2013. Read about the fantastic experience I had at Boracay Island Escapade or on my blog.
Courtesy of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), I had the opportunity to have a 4 day adventure in Hong Kong with 9 other bloggers. To read our collective Hong Kong Travel Blog entries, please click on the icon below:
The Long and Winding Road 