Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help
19-21 Jalan La Salle, Ipoh Garden, 31400 Ipoh, Perak
T: 05-5458220 (O)
F: 05-5468495
T: 05-5468611 (Community)
Parish Priest : Rev. Philip Lai, CSsR
Sat. Novena Devotion : 9.00 am & 6.00 pm
Sat. Sunset Mas : 7.00 pm English
Sunday Mass:
8.30 am English
10.00 am Tamil
11.30 am Mandarin
Chapels:
St. Mary's Chapel, Kg. Tersusun
Sunday Mass in Tamil : 5.00 pm
Rangers's Camp Chapel
8.00 M. Mass in B.M.
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OMPH Feast celebration |
| Posted by Diocese of Penang (pgdiocese) on Sep 12 2008 |
13 July 2008
Four thousand participate in OMPH feastday celebrations
IPOH: More than 4,000 people converged on Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church here to participate in its feastday Eucharistic celebration on June 28, which included a combined language Mass, crowning of the Icon, candlelight procession and Benediction.
Fine weather allowed many to come for the eight days of novena-preached Mass and the outdoor feastday Mass to thank Mother Mary for her intercessions and help.
People from Singapore, Johor and Kuala Lumpur came for the Mass, celebrated by OMPH parish priest Fr Joseph Stephen, CSsR, with assistant parish priest Fr Philip Lai, CSsR and Fr Simon Pereira, CSsR.
Also present were guest preachers, Frs Bill Heng, CSsR, Paul Wong, Victor Louis and Bernard Paul and Neville Sinnappah, CSsR.
The readings, intercessions and hymns were in English, Mandarin, Bahasa and Tamil.
After communion, a letter of thanksgiving to Mother Mary was read, for her help in OMPH’s formation programmes, for this year’s 25 newly-baptised, and premises for social work. There was a significant growth in language groups, the formation of Chinese BECs and new BECs and activities in the Ranger Camp. Mary’s devotion in helping the priests in their work was also highlighted before the congregation recited the Memorare.
Bells chimed loudly and altar servers knelt, offering incense as the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help was crowned by a representative of the Tamil-speaking group.
Fr Joe then received a book containing the names of 8,449 families to be consecrated to Mary for her protection and guidance and placed it at the outdoor shrine. The procession began with soldiers from Rangers’ Camp and Tamil parishioners from Our Lady of Lourdes Church carrying the flower-covered float with the crowned Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Flower girls threw petals along the way and altar servers offered up incense before the Icon. As the Icon was carried along the roads surrounding the church, Fr Joe and other priests followed in procession with the people, reciting the rosary.
Earlier during Mass, the theme Mary Empowered by the Word was the message in all the sermons given by Frs Simon, Bernard Paul, Victor Louis and Paul Wong.
In his sermon, Fr Simon spoke of Mary’s role in God’s plan of Salvation and how we should emulate her.
“Mary, with such faith, hope and purity, humbly and devoutly answered the angel, who declared to her the mystery of the Incarnation, saying: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy Word.” (Luke1:38)
“Mary shows us the way as she is empowered by the Word of God to carry out His plan in us. She was a faithful disciple even before the birth of her Son, with the Word born in her heart, in her womb.
“When she cried out “Holy is his name” she tells us to let God be God, and let the passion, death and resurrection be in our lives. She invites us to experience His plentiful redemption. For this is what a broken people all over the world are looking for, the compassionate love of God.
“Mary tells us to take Jesus home to our families by speaking kindly, praying and blessing each other.The Word of God has such power it reads our secret emotions and penetrates our soul, empowers us to fight Satan and Sin, and leads us to eternal life,” he said.
Fr Paul Wong speaking in Mandarin, said the Word of God was what Mary treasured most and she was filled with fervent love of God .
Fr Bernard Paul gave his sermon in Bahasa Malaysia. “In Mary we see the Word of God fulfilled. God strengthened her for the challenges and threats ahead.
“Mary is faithful to God’s call. When we are faced with adversity we are quickly dejected and run away, but Mary opens her heart to a new “son”, a friend and follower of Jesus. Today Mary is a mother to anyone who loves Jesus.
“Ask if God has had this effect on us, by helping us, strengthening and encouraging us to open our hearts to others in the Christian community. Or do we refuse to open our hearts to others?”
Fr Victor Louis speaking in Tamil, said the two most important points were that Mary was present at the beginning of the Jesus miracles in Cana, and at the end, when she stood at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified.
“At Cana, she told the workers, “Do whatever he tells you.” She is a mother to all of us today.”
After Benediction, Fr Joe thanked all who had helped in preparing for the feastday, the congregation and the preachers. He also asked the people to pray for the late Most Rev Archbishop Gregory Yong, DD, who passed away that afternoon in Singapore.
The late Archbishop Yong was responsible for blessing OMPH church in 1972.
Later, after the concluding prayer, many stayed for a fellowship at St Gerard’s Café.
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Date published: Sunday, July 13, 2008
Sense of missionning becomes clearer
IPOH: Whilst the English novena-preached Masses were ongoing, Masses in Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia and Tamil were also held from June 25 -27 .
Each night, about 500 people attended both the Tamil and Chinese Masses at OMPH hall and room. OMPH parish priest, Fr Joseph Stephen, CSsR, was present to celebrate the Tamil Mass with Fr Victor Louis, while assistant parish priest Fr Philip Lai, CSsR, was also present at the Mandarin Masses to celebrate the Eucharist with Fr Paul Wong.
After the eight days of Novena Masses, a sense of missioning became clear as more people joined in novena prayers and went for confessions. OMPH parish priest Fr Joseph Stephen CSsR said he hoped the people will take it one step further and put what they had learned into practice and service.
He thanked all the preachers, Frs Simon Pereira, CSsR, and Bill Heng, CSsR, Michael Chua, Paul Wong, Victor Louis and Bernard Paul for sharing their time and breaking the Word of God to all.
On different days, there were blessings for children, youth, singles, senior citizens, married couples, expectant mothers and the sick. Confessions were heard everyday before Mass. For the first time, altar servers were brought forward to be prayed over and they in turn prayed for the faithful. Almost every day after Mass, people flocked to be prayed over by the priests. Many of them wept or rested in the Spirit as they were prayed over.There was fellowship, with food and drink prepared by the different BECs, Ministries and organizations within the parish.
There were tender moments when couples renewed their marriage vows, kissed and hugged, and family members blessed each other and the priests.
Then there were humorous testimonies of what the secret to a good married life was. The congregation erupted into laughter, when Dr Chin Mee Hong and wife Katie gave an amusing reply to Fr Simon Pereira, CSsR as to how they were married for 53 long years.
“He’s deaf, you see,” quipped Katie.
Last changed: Sep 12 2008 at 4:06 PM
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