Church of St. Francis de Sales (1900)
521 Jalan Raja Omar, 32000 Sitiawan, Perak
T: 05-6911594
F: 05-6913423
Email: sfdsparish@gmail.com
Parish Priest : Rev. Arulnathan Joseph
Sunday Mass :
7.00 am (English)
9.30 am (1st & 3rd Sun. in Tamil; 2nd & 5th in English; 4th Sun. in BM)
6.00 pm (1st & 3rd in Mandarin)
Chapels:
St. Anne, Ayer Tawar :
St. Jane Francis de Chantal, Brus: once a month
Pantai Remis/Sg. Batu: once a month
Our Lady of Fatima, Suak Padi (Orang Asli): once a month
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Retreat, vigil to welcome Pentecost at Sitiawan parish |
| Posted by Diocese of Penang (pgdiocese) on Jun 15 2009 |
June 13 , 2009
By DMC Durairaj
SITIAWAN: In preparation to celebrate the feast of Pentecost, a three-day retreat with vigil was held at the Church of St Francis de Sales.
Held in three languages, Fr Anthony Pillai from Kuala Kangsar parish preached in Tamil with Fr Vincent Paul from Tapah parish preaching in English and IJ Sr Margaret preaching in Mandarin.
The theme for the three days was The Role of the Holy Spirit. The speakers touched on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, mainly wisdom, understanding, knowledge, right judgment, courage, piety and fear of the Lord.
After the retreat, an overnight vigil was held for the first time in the parish, organized by all the prayer groups. About 80 people attended the vigil which began at 10.00pm and ended with Mass at 6.00am the next day.
There were praise and worship sessions in all three languages, silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, prayers for repentance and forgiveness, sharing as well as scripture reading.
Some found it hard to stay awake but the short breaks for drink and food helped.
The parishioners felt that by attending the retreat and vigil, and immediately going into the celebration of Pentecost on Pentecost Sunday was a wonderful experience. Some even received the gifts of the Holy Spirit while attending the retreat and felt blessed to get involved in the many activities of the church.
At the end of the sessions, many remarked that it was a wonderful experience as this was their first time attending a retreat followed by vigil and Eucharistic celebration. Many felt that they were really touched and could feel the Holy Spirit working within them.
At the end of the day, the parish priest, Fr Arulnathan Joseph thanked all the speakers. He also congratulated and thanked all present, especially those who attended the vigil and the organizers for a well arranged Spirit-filled celebration of the birthday of the church.
The whole celebration ended with a fellowship in the church compound. All the parishioners enjoyed the various types of food prepared by the different BECs in the parish. —
Last changed: Jun 15 2009 at 3:08 PM
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