Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour

History

It took almost seven years from conception to planning before OLPS Church was built in 1961. The idea to build a church beyond the Katong area was first given serious consideration in 1954. It was then felt that the Church of the Holy Family, Singapore could not accommodate the growing number of worshippers living in Katong and the then rural Siglap where more people were making their homes.

In 1955, Fr. Rene Ashness, Holy Family's parish priest launched the project by appealing for donations to have a church built in the Siglap area. Fr. Paul Munier, who became Holy Family's parish priest in 1957, continued with the appeal for donations. The members of the Church Building Committee went from house to house during their spare time to seek donations. They collected a sum adequate to buy 53,300 sq. feet of land at progress payments. The final cost for the building and professional fees was S$283,391.78.

The OLPS Church was blessed and declared open for worship on 7 October 1961 by His Grace, the late Msgr Michael Olcomendy, Archbishop of the then Malacca-Singapore Archdiocese. The ensuing years saw not only a tremendous increase in the parish population to some 8,500 worshippers, but also a growing number of children in need of catechism and kindergarten education. There was thus an urgent and pressing need for more classrooms as well as amenities to cater to the pastoral needs of the parishioners as well as residents in the East Coast district.

Thus in 1993, plans were made to build a three-and-a-half storey extension to the church, housing additional classrooms, AVA rooms, a library and a small auditorium. Fr. John Lee, the parish priest, undertook this project and formed two committees, namely, the Building Extension Committee and the Building Extension Finance Committee, which were subsequently merged to become the Building Extension and Finance Committee, to monitor the technical aspects of the extension and to source funds.

For almost two years, Fr. John Lee held meetings and discussions with the authorities, the architect, engineers and other professionals before calling for tenders. A giant drill was set in motion for the first pile to be sunk on 13 May 1996 and work, progressed steadily and uninterrupted except for short periods of bad weather. By the end of 1996, the superstructure was completed and the new extension was ready for use in August 1997. A time capsule was installed at the foyer of the annex building; it houses memorabilia pertaining to the church and will be opened in 2061 when the church celebrates its centenary.

Having completed the church's annex building, the next task on hand was the renovation of the church building and the presbytery. After much deliberation and cost study, it was decided that to reconstruct the presbytery was more cost-effective than to renovate it and moreover would offer better space usage. The old priests' house was demolished in November 1998 and actual construction commenced on 15 January 1999. It took almost a year to complete and the priests were able to move into the new presbytery on 23 December 1999. It was officially blessed by His Grace, Archbishop Gregory Yong on 22 January 2000. The presbytery also houses an Adoration Room, aptly named "The Sanctuary" and this was opened to parishioners on 2 February 2000 on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

Tenders for renovation of the church building were called in August 1999 and renovation works started in December 1999, finally completing in 2001.

The church is now air-conditioned, yielding seating space of 1,600. The space on the ground floor has also expanded to provide better facilities and a new kitchen is built to serve the church, together with meeting rooms and a store-room for the SVDP Conference. A columbarium for 2500 niches is an added feature of the church.

Origins of the Name

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour is the Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary as represented in a Byzantine icon from the 15th Century. The icon has been in Rome since 1499, and is permanently enshrined in the church of Sant'Alfonso di Liguori.

In the image, Mother Mary wears a dress of dark red that represents the Passion of Jesus, a blue mantle that represents her virginity, and a cloaked veil, which represents her pure modesty. She is looking towards the faithful, while pointing at her son, Jesus Christ, who seems frightened by the instruments of crucifixion while a sandal slips off his foot.

The angel on the left is St Michael, who carries the lance and sponge of the crucifixion of Jesus while on the right is St Gabriel, depicted as carrying nails and a 3-bar cross used by Popes at the time. The Virgin Mary has a star on her forehead, signifying her role as Star of the Sea while the cross on the side has been claimed as referring to the school which produced the icon.

In the painting, Mary's veil and her face itself are rounded, to indicate her holiness, as a halo was not commonly painted around the head in those days. The artist also deliberately made the size of the mother disproportionate to that of her son to emphasise the significance of Mary in the icon.

The Greek inscriptions read MP-ΘΥ (Μήτηρ Θεοῦ, Mother of God), OAM (Ὁ Ἀρχάγγελος Μιχαήλ, Michael the Archangel), OAΓ (Ὁ Ἀρχάγγελος Γαβριήλ, Gabriel the Archangel) and IC-XC (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Jesus Christ), respectively.

Feast Day

The feast day of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour is on 27 June and the church celebrates its feast day on the following Sunday (or on 27 June if falls on a Sunday).

Triduum

Past Feast Days

Each year, a different theme is given for the feast day which helps the congregation focus on different aspects of their faith.