More on Father Pierre Paris as MEP Father and constructor of the church

Born 19 of Jan 1833, Father Pierre Paris was born 50 years before the birth of first parish priest Father Michael Seet in 1883.

He was attributed to be the constructor of the St Peter and Paul church in 1870.

As the MEP and also parish priest, he was distinctly unique amonst others as he could speak Tamil!

Father Pierre Paris was able to traverse between town area(which is Queen Street) and also the jungles in Serangoon.

As the times were tough for any MEP priests, having faced competition from the gangsters and triads, nevertheless the work of evangelism carried through assimilating cultures and language. He learn the vernacular of the early immigrants, which were Teochew and Hokkien and made them feel comfortable.

In fact for the MEP priest, life was often beset with problems of society at that time, namely poverty and gangsterism.

One of the triad leaders called an MEP Father who lived around the same time,  Father Albrand,  "the Head of the Devil  and threatened to cut off parishoners pig tails when they tried to convert.  Serangoon (Ao Kang) was a jungle and so was Bo Chu Kang. However these were Catholic enclaves. They were united by their faith, they though in different parts of Singapore.  In 1853 a small chapel was erected and blessed in Serangoon(called St Mary's and later renamed Nativity Church).
Father Pierre from the heart of  town,  had to travel by foot, to these areas to say Mass and interact for the pastoral needs of the Indians and other settlers on the outliers of the island.

The jail was in the town area too. Father Pierre had to say mass at the prison. The jail was called by British colonial Bras Basah Jail (the local Chinese called it "Lau Ka Ku Keng Kau")  (Map is appended below).  This rhythm of life of servanthood, and pastoral care is continued by the priests till today with priests saying in our jails albeit in highly restricted grounds of  Changi.


Father Pierre Paris had very close ties with the cathechists and the cathechumans. Father Pierre Paris received much support through large donations by a Pedro Tan No Keah to build the church of St Peter and Paul. Later, houses for cathechists were built by Chan Teck Hee.

Father Pierre also set up the St Francis Malabar school located along Waterloo Street.

It could be clearly seen  with his grasp of the Tamil language, and his closeness to his flock, he influenced the outcrop of the next church he was to build Church of Our Lady in 1888, seventeen years after he built St Peter and Paul. The church was to house the Tamil worshippers, a footprint of Father's Pierre no doubt in early development of the first Singapore Catholic churches.

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_100_2005-01-24.html

http://www.microsite.nl.sg/pdfs/biblioasia/biba_0304jan08a.pdf

http://www.ghettosingapore.com/story-of-the-old-bras-basah-jail/
  

The Teochew and Hokkien church amidst other Christian Churches

In 1916, 5 years after the ordination of first local priest Father Micheal Seet, was a hub of Christian activity.

The St Peter and Paul church was known affectionately as the Teochew and Hokkien church.

Below were the churches with services on May 14(3rd Sun after Easter)
published in the Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser on 13 May 1916:

Bethesda Bras Basah Road
3 services 9am, 4pm and 8pm
Prinsep Street Baba Church
3 services 8,9 am and 745pm
Wesley Church Fort Canning Road
3 services 8,9 am and 530pm
Middle Road Church
3services 10,11am and 730, 8pm
Presbyterian Church Orchard Road
8,9am
Boustead Institute
815pm
St Peter's church Stamford Road
930am,2, 4pm,730pm,
Chinese Christian Church
930am, 2,730pm
St John's Church Jurong
9am
Cathedral of Good Shepherd
515am,8am,5pm
Church of St Peter and Paul
530am,
Church of our Lady

Seventh day Adventist chapel

more on Father Becheras , renowned MEP priest in St Peter and Paul whose influence continue on today

A Statue of Father Becheras in
front of the clock Tower of Catholic
High School with a High School
and Primary School student.



Father Becheras contribution included Parish Priest of St Peter and Paul Church. It was said that when he wielded a cane and went on to find his lost sheep, parishioners who indulged in vices and were seen in places that included vice and prostitution.

Father Becheras other contributions included building the Catholic High School in 1935 at Queen Street opposite the St Peter and Paul church. Father Becheras taught science which was uncommon at that time, and he had the vision to run it as a bilingual school. Not surprisingly the enrolment gre rapidly and within 2 years, the school had to expand. (Today the first school campus houses 8Q Singapore Art Museum).


Above, a statue of Father Edward Becheras is placed at the Catholic High school in memory of his work done to Singapore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_High_School,_Singapore



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_High_School,_Singapore#/media/File:Catholic_high_school_002.jpg

MEPs and their mission, and formation of seminaries for training priests

The MEP Fathers which hailed from Paris and started their mission from the outcrop of Siam, and subsequently to Malaya and Singapore, finally established a base in Penang, where first churches were built, and spread their evangelization efforts down to Singapore with first seminary in 1849 in Punggol.

However it was moved back to Mata Tinggi as Bishop Bucho wanted to keep an eye for expedience sake as Singapore was too far. A remnant of the plague is found in Punggol titled St Mary's College.

Indeed the roots of seminary had its incipient stage in Singapore as early as 1849, but due to lack of funds, and probable change of decision owing to consolidation factors, and funding under Bishop Boucho, it very much later in 1920s restarted when Bishop Barillon built a seminary here. It closed during the Japanese War and was reopened later under Father Pierre Barthoulot , another MEP.



 http://www.sfxms.org.sg/articles_barthoulot.html


 http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_831_2005-01-03.html


In  Fr Pierre Barthoulot(MEP) , who restarted the first seminary in Singapore, 

I became a priest because I wanted to be a missionary. In my family, every generation produced a priest. I did not want to stay in the parish. I was born in Eastern France, near the Swiss border, there were 1,000 priests in the diocese. I chose a society which sent their priests to Asia, so I joined the MEP. I did not ask to come here but I was sent. I did not ask to be assigned to the seminary because I never thought that I would be the right man for the seminary but I was there for 25 years.

 

When you obey God through your superior, you don't make mistakes. There is a reflection I wrote regarding my priesthood: “To obey is not enough to do what obedience commands. It is necessary to do it without reasoning about it. Be convinced that whatever is commanded is the best thing that can be done. We are naturally inclined to command and often unwilling to obey. Yet it is certain that to obey is more advantageous that to command."

 

The earlier MEPs starting from Bishop Boucho, then Bishop Barillon, had given the seeded the idea of a seminary in Singapore. Through tumultuous times, like Japanese War, it finally bore fruit. Today because of the works of the MEPs, we have locally trained diocesan priests.

 

In fact the first local priest from a religious order when Father Pierre Barthoulot arrived was Father Paul Pang, as during the early priests who took part in pastoral activity were mainly MEPs. Tough from a missionary order, they took orders from the local bishop. Religious priests on the other hand can follow the charism of their order.  Because of the flurry of activity, today there are many religious orders. They helped to establish the clergy I Singapore, leaving us in good hands. Today we have our own seminary in St Francis Major Seminary, thanks to the MEPs works. Added to that we have many locally trained diocesan priests.

 

St Peter and Paul was blessed to have Father Michael Seet Kiam Juay the first local born diocesan priest trained in the seminary founded by the MEPs in College General in Penang, with roots tracing back to 1665.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_General

 

http://www.sfxms.org.sg/articles_barthoulot.html

 

First rector of Minor seminary in Singapore

 

 

 

St. Peter statue in the church

The St Peter Statue in St Peter and Paul church resembles the one in the St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

It was designed by the artist Arnolfo di Cambio’s sculpture of St. Peter, c. 1300.  this highly venerated sculpture of St. Peter is seated on an alabaster throne. His right foot protrudes from the base.

In flowing robes, he pictured holding the keys to heaven.

The statue has long been regarded as having been created in the 5th century, commissioned by Pope Leo I (440-461).

Interestingly, except with the halo, St Peter which has the unique feature of has curly beard and hair and the statue in St Peter and Paul Singapore clearly draws from the one in Rome and attributed to the artist Arnolfo.

Also its historicity dates back much longer as it was commissioned by Pope LeoI in the 5th Century.
A comparison of the statue found in Singapore and Rome is found below.

http://www.digital-images.net/Gallery/Scenic/Rome/Churches/StPeters_Int/stpeters_int.html

http://blog.omy.sg/jerome/2013/05/24/the-chinese-church-%E2%80%93-another-national-monument-in-need/

Father Emile Joseph Mariette of St Peter and Paul Church who also went on to build St Theresa church

Reverend Father Emile Joseph Mariette was Vicar of Church of Saints Peter and Paul from 1908 to 1928. His contribution did not end there.

The MEP father did not stop there. Later he set about building St Theresa built the church of St Theresa in 1923. The church was established in 1929.

Indeed the St Peter and Paul influence amongst early churches was profound.




Chan Teck Hee who was also one of the important donors of St Peter and Paul assisted in donating 5 more bronze bells to Father's Emile Joseph mission at the new church. He named it after his five children, and will string a chord when rung.


This MEP father was an example of the MEP priests in Singapore who took the efforts to learn the dialects which included Hokkien and Teochew languages. This enabled them to communicate and catechize to the parishioners and their family members as well as early community.


He also officiated in the pontifical High Mass for the first local born priest Michael Seet in 1911.





http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1704_2010-08-16.html

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/printheritage/image.aspx?id=c8a952cb-b2a4-4d5d-b239-b2fb41f68ac8

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19280314.2.41.aspx
http://www.sfxms.org.sg/articles_barthoulot.html

The first local born Priest in St Peter and Paul and the first founding fathers of St Peter and Paul

Father Michael Seet had the honour to be the first local priest in Singapore and he was the first local born priest to serve in St Peter and Paul church.

He was ordained in 1911 when Singapore had no seminary yet.

In those days, the seminary was in college general in Penang as the MEPs developed a base there for missionary works in this region. The seminary was run by the MEPs.

Father Michael Seet had studied there for 12 years. He was ordained by Bishop Emile Barrilon and concelebrated by Rev Fathers Emile Joseph Mariette(Master of Ceremony) , Father Duvelle, and Father G. Chevauche(all MEP Fathers).

In 1911, Bishop Barillon was overseer in Malacca and Singapore. Father G Chevauche was the first to erect the first church, a plank chapel, in Kampar, and an outstation of mother church St Joseph in Penang under Barillon, Bishop of Malacca. It was blessed and officiated by Bishop Barillon.

The other priest that later were locally born and ordained were Stephen Lee and Rudolf de Souza in 1922.

Notably Father Michael Seet, was the second son of cathechist Seet Twa Tee. He had been a cathechist for 30 years. He lived in the house next to the church, and these houses had been erected after Chan Teck Hee, the famous donor to the church, director of Sze Tong Hai bank and Kiam Hoa Heng Co Bangkok, purchased the plot and build hoses for the Cathechists, the widows and the aged.

In 1911, the year Father Michael Seet was ordained, there were indeed 5 parishes only, namely, the Cathedral of Good shepherd, St Peter and Paul, Our Lady of Lourdes, and St Joseph Church(Bukit Timah) with priests linked to the MEP with the fifth from St Joseph church(Of which St Joseph church belonged to Portugese mission) and Catholics numbered

The first founding Fathers of St Peter and Paul were Father Issaly and Father Pierre Paris.

Father Michael Seet died at the age of 63 on 18 June 1946, and was buried at Bidadari Cemetary.

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19280314.2.41.aspx
http://www.penangdiocese.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/spSHJ.pdf
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepressb19300910.2.47.aspx