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College General receives ‘long lost’ Sacred Heart of Jesus statue |
| Sep 16 2008 |
24 August 2008
PENANG: On Aug 4 the statue of the Sacred Heart was returned to the seminary after an absence of about forty years. The statue originally used to be housed in the seminary Chapel, also so named. However, the statue went missing in the 1960s and found its way to the Church of the Sacred Heart, Kampar, where it stayed for the next few decades. Time passed quickly, and in the intervening years the seminary procured another statue of the same name to replace it.
Interestingly, the original statue was returned to the seminary on the occasion of the centenary celebration of the Church of the Sacred Heart, Kampar and the seminary’s own bicentenary celebration. It was with a sense of great joy that formators, seminarians and the friends of the seminary received their historic statue in preparation for the celebration of an even greater historic event — the 200th anniversary of the opening of College General in Penang — where the Chief Minister of Penang is expected to attend. Many of the seminary’s alumni will also be gathering for the reunion at their alma mater.
College General has a rich history dating back to 1665, when it was first opened in Ayuthia, the capital of what was then the kingdom of Siam. It had a rich history of peregrinations and finally established itself in Penang in 1808.
The Rector of College General, Fr Edwin Paul, made a short speech tracing the whereabouts of the statue in the years it was aw
ay from the seminary. Fr Edwin, who also celebrated his sixteenth anniversary as a priest, thanked the Parish Priest of the Church of Sacred Heart, Kampar, Fr Victor Louis, and all the parishioners there who were gracious enough to return the said statue. In return for this kind and generous gesture, the current statue in the seminary was sent to Kampar in place of the former.
Archbishop Soter Fernandez then blessed and incensed the statue before it was mounted onto a platform in a niche under an arch behind the Tabernacle. Thereafter, all present, including the FMDM nuns and lay persons joined in for a group photo. The seminarians then led all those present in singing the hymn, “Sweet Heart of Jesus” before preparing for Mass.
The bicentennial celebration falls on October 2, and all alumni are invited to contact Fr. Simon Labrooy at 04-8902002 or revsimonlabrooy@gmail.com. For further information, please log on to www.Collegegeneral.org .
— By Gregory Chan
Last changed: Sep 16 2008 at 10:19 AM
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