Our Roots – The Very Early Beginnings

In the beginning of the 19^th century, the Catholic Mission activity in North Malaya was in Penang and in Bagan Serai, which is in North Perak.  These were the two Indian parishes in North Malaya.  The spiritual needs of the Tamil Catholics of Ipoh were cared for by the visiting missionary of St. Michael’s Church, which was intended for the Chinese.  The first baptisms of the Tamil Catholics are in the Baptismal register of the St. Michael’s Church in Ipoh 

The first parish with a resident priest for Tamils in Central Perak was started in Tapah and Fr. Rene Fee who later became the Bishop of Malacca, seems to have said the first Mass in Ipoh. 

With the construction of the railways, more Indians settled in Ipoh and a place of worship and the need for a Tamil-speaking priest became noticeable.

 

The Tamil Mission

In January 1901, Fr. Marie Henrie Sausseau arrived in Tapah and took care of all the Tamil Catholics scattered in the various districts of Perak.  At that time, there were only 150 Tamil Catholics in Ipoh.  Later, due to the expansion of the railways, the influx of the labour force increased to about 300.

In line with the tradition of the religious-minded Indians, these few built a wooden structure with an attap roof for worship, near the Northern overhead bridge leading to the old railway goodshed.  Though it had an altar and some holy pictures on the walls, this chapel was never blessed and Mass was never said in it.  This chapel was deserted as they moved their settlement towards Silibin area.

 

Building of the Church

Fr. L.M. Duvelle started to look for a piece of land in Ipoh to build a church for the Indian Catholics.  Due to his ill health, the search was continued by Fr. Sausseau.  After a few unsuccessful applications for a piece of government lands as well as two attempts to buy a piece of private land throughout 1901, Fr. Sausseau (based in Tapah) sought the assistance of Fr. Mariette (assistant parish priest of St. Michael’s Church, Ipoh).  In July 1902, they secured a piece of land belonging to four Malays.

Fr. Sausseau went to every Indian catholic home to collect donations to put up the church building.  The church’s greatest benefactor was Fr. Hermann who offered Fr. Sausseau a contribution from the profits of his share in a tin mine in Taiping.

By God’s Blessings, after three years of  purchasing the land, the foundation stone was laid and blessed by His Lordship Msgr. Barillon at the end of August 1905.  The Bishop named the church ‘Church of Our Lady of Lourdes’. His Lordship was very pleased with this name and he wrote to Fr. Sausseau, ‘We have Our Lady of Lourdes in the South (Singapore), Our Lady of Lourdes in the middle of the country (Klang), now we will have Our Lady of Lourdes in the North alright’.

 

The Old Church

The First Resident Priest

The Church now had a dire need for a resident priest.   The following year (1906),  Rev. Fr. Sausseau was appointed as the first resident priest of the church.  But, there was no house for the priest to stay near the church.  So, Fr. Sausseau had to stay at the St. Michael’s Church and travel daily for Mass.  After three years of hard work and sacrifice, Fr. Sausseau managed to build himself a house, near the church.

Before the purchase of this piece of land, no one had mentioned to the priest that the land was flood prone. Till 1911, there was never a year without one or two minor floods. The worst of these floods were in 1907 and in 1913. The first flood was on Friday in November 1907, when the floodwaters reached the steps of the church and the house. In January 1913, a second dreadful flood hit the church causing much anguish to both parishioners and priest. Parishioners had to be evacuated from the church with the help of 3 to 4 rickshaws. Fr. Sausseau himself was forced into his armchair and carried to his house.

Around 1909, Fr. Sausseau returned to France for treatment of stomach cancer. During his absence, Fr. Noel J. Deredec took care of the parish.   But when Fr. Sausseau returned, he was posted to Penang and Fr. Deredec was confirmed as parish priest of the church.  Fr. Deredec was much admired by the youths of the parish.  They were his constant companions, always around the parochial house.  Fr. J. Arcand assisted Fr. Deredec.

Fr. John Edmund who succeeded Fr. Deredec in 1931, was the first Tamil priest of the church. The present parochial house was built during his tenure.  He was also popular with the youths of the parish, helping them with their problems.  In 1935, Fr. Edmund was transferred to Teluk Anson and Fr. Finian De Silva succeeded him, followed by Fr. Anthony Dass in 1949.

The Parish House built by Fr. John Edmund

The Building of the New Church

The little wooden Church soon became inadequate for the growing Tamil-speaking Catholic population of Ipoh.  The proposal to build a new church with modern architecture, big enough to contain the increasing number of Catholics was planned before World War II.  In fact,  the original site that was found to be conducive and within the grasp of the then existing financial resources was the site presently occupied by Tarcisian Convent in Jalan Hassan.  However, after the war,  efforts to build the new church proceeded at the present venue.

Fr. Dass, who was a dynamic, well-disciplined and outspoken man,  concentrated on finding ways and means to increase the proposed new Church Building Fund, which now stood at about $4 500.  The big church would need big money.  The parishioners accepted to donate with their one month’s salary by monthly installments.

The foundation stone was laid by Honorable Leong Yew Koh, the first Malaysian Governor of Malacca, and blessed by Msgr. Francis Chan, the first Bishop of Penang. Fr. Dass went all out to raise funds for the new church and completed the church to coincide with the centenary celebrations of Our Lady’s apparitions in Lourdes in 1858.

As the building work progressed, the fund-raising committee was struck with blows, one after another. Seeing this situation, the then senior catechist of the Parish, Mr. A. Anthonysamy, came to the rescue in the nick of time by donating to the building-fund, his whole life savings, which was a substantial sum. 

The blessing and opening of the big and newly completed church was conducted on 8^th September, 1959 by the then Bishop of Penang, the late Msgr. Francis Chan, followed by the Eucharistic Celebration by the Bishop of Kuala Lumpur, Msgr. D. Vendargon, while concluding service – Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament – was solemnized by the then late Archbishop of Singapore, the late Msgr. M. Olcomendy.

The Parish House built by Fr. John Edmund

Design & Construction

The church was designed in Gothic Architecture with a belfry bell tower in front and a gallery to accommodate the choir. The plan was in the form of a cross with a main body and two wings to provide comfortable seating capacity for 1,500 persons. The structure is reinforced concrete framed building with brick walls and the wings on either side contain two concealed confessionals to provide undisturbed privacy between priest and penitent. The internal pillars have been avoided by providing steel trusses on the top. The absence of pillars provide greater visibility to follow the service at the main altar from any position within the building.

The Later Years

During his tenure Fr. Dass was also assisted by Fr. Vettar.  When Fr. Dass went on a pilgrimage to Goa, Fr. Dorett replaced him temporarily.  On the return of Fr. Dass, after three months, and being physically unfit, Fr. Dorett continued to stay and assisted him for nearly 2 ½ years.

In 1961,  Fr. Lionel S. Norris was sent to assist the sick Fr. Dass.  During this time, Fr. Stanislas was assistant parish priest for two years before he left the parish in 1962.  The installation of the main marble altar with the rear screen wall in mosaic tiles depicting The Last Supper was done by Fr. Norris, who served in the parish until March 1963 when he went on leave and Rev. Fr. Arsene Rigottier (MEP) succeeded him.

Fr. Rigottier who had spent 13 years in the rural areas in India, very easily adapted to the Indian Catholics in Ipoh. During his seven years in the parish, he constructed the  Lourdes Youth Centre Hall on the grounds of the old church. He was also responsible for refurbishing the old Grotto to a much bigger and beautiful one. Both were opened on 12^th  February, 1966.  Besides this, he also founded the Lourdes Kindergarten.  Fr. Rigottier was assisted by MEPs Fr. Catel and Fr. Caset.  Fr. Catel was in the parish from April 1964 to October 1966.  He brought about changes in the liturgical and social aspects of the parish.

 

The Lourdes Church Hall

The Church Grotto

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The first ordination in the parish was that of Fr. Murphy Pakiam in 1964.  He was posted here as assistant to Fr. Rigottier in April 1967. He then succeeded Fr. Rigottier as parish priest in 1970.  Fr. Pakiam was assisted by Fr. Grandgirard and Fr. J. Victor.  Two years later, Fr. Pakiam left for Rome to study Moral Theology.  Fr. Grandgirard was in the parish from April 1967 to 1970 and he was specially noted for his services to the Tamil-speaking parishioners.

Fr. Francis Anthony succeeded Fr. Pakiam as parish priest from 1972 until June 1975.  Newly ordained Fr. Francis Regis assisted Fr. Anthony and took over in June 1975.  He won the admiration and respect of the Indian Catholics. 

After Fr. Regis left for studies in Rome, Fr. Dorett took over as parish priest from 1978 to 1984.   He was assisted by Fr. Maiccal Sinnappan and Fr. Marshall Fernandez, who worked closely with the youth.

Fr. Alexander Edwin was appointed as parish priest in 1984.  He remained parish priest until 1999.  The assistant priests to Fr. Alex were Fr. Martin Lam, Fr. Francis Xavier Selvarajoo, Fr. Anthony Pillai, Fr. Gregory Hwatt and Fr. Fabian Dicom. 

Fr. Clement Pereira was appointed parish priest in 1999.  Newly ordained, Fr. Jude Miranda, assisted Fr. Clement in the parish.  Fr. Clement remained as parish priest until 2002 when Fr. Anthony Pillai came in as parish priest. 

During his tenure, Fr. Pillai painstakingly organized a grand and well-participated Centenary Celebration of the parish in February 2005. 

The Centenary Logo

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Fr. Bernard Paul replaced him as parish priest in March 2005.  He was assisted by the newly ordained, Fr. Dominic Santhiyagu from January 2006 till December 2007. Later in 2009, Fr. Bernard was assisted by Fr. Stanley Antoni until mid-2010. And in October 2010, Fr. Francis Anthony replaced  Fr. Bernard as  parish priest.