KUCHING — The Feast of Assumption 2018 will always be a memorable day for the Carmelite nuns of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Carmelite Monastery as they ‘returned to their beloved earthly abode’ after an absence of two years. It was the day of joy shared by the clergy and the laity alike as they gathered to celebrate the blessing of the newly rebuilt monastery and to fulfil their happy obligation of the solemnity of the Feast. 

Archbishop Simon Poh presided over the Mass, concelebrated by Archbishops Emeriti Peter Chung and John Ha together with priests from St Peter’s College and other parishes from near and far. Despite being a working day, the little Carmelite Chapel was filled to capacity.

The Archbishop in his opening remark said that it has been two long years of preparation and waiting for the nuns to return to their monastery. And so, it is fitting that this auspicious day was chosen to dedicate the newly rebuilt monastery to the Lord and to move back.
Later in his homily, Archbishop Simon reflected that Mother Mary is the new ark of the covenant that David, centuries earlier, had carried over the Jordan River back to the Promised Land. Likewise, when Mary visited Elizabeth carrying in her womb baby Jesus, she too crossed a river into the new promised land in Jesus. The Feast of Assumption today is a celebration of the God dwelling among us – made possible through Mary’s fiat – and a promise fulfilled at Jesus’ resurrection being the first-fruits of all who will be following after Christ.

After the Mass, the Archbishop together with Mother Prioress Sr Marie Evelyn proceeded to the gate for the rite of dedication and intercessory prayer before declaring the monastery open. Echoing Jesus’ invitation “come and see” from the gospel reading chosen for the dedication, Archbishop Simon expressed hope that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the monastery would lead many young women and men present to join the nuns as Carmelite nuns and friars. Sr Marie Evelyn, on behalf of the community, expressed her heartfelt gratitude to God for the gift of the contributors who have very generously given their time, effort and resources towards the rebuilding of the monastery.

After the doors of the monastery were opened, Archbishop Simon together with Archbishops Emeriti and the priests proceeded to bless the whole monastery before the congregation was invited to visit the revered place. After the Angelus, the door of the Carmelite Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was closed, signalling the nuns were once again cloistered in their ‘forever earthly abode’.

The Carmelite Monastery is the spiritual power house of the Archdiocese of Kuching that fuels the vibrant life of the Archdiocese. As part of their charism, the nuns pray for the Archdiocese – for the Archbishop, the clergy, the religious and the lay faithful. Many individuals have sought out the nuns, and still are, to pray for their intentions.

The Carmelite Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was first built in 1948 while the papal enclosure was erected in 1952. When structures of the building began to deteriorate, the nuns rebuilt it in 1979. Another 36 years saw the monastery being infested with termites. Acting on the advice of Fr Angelo Madelo (the Definitor General at the time) and the suggestion of Archbishop Emeritus John Ha, the nuns initiated the plan to rebuild the monastery. In 2016, the Nuns put up at a temporary shelter at Deshon Road offered by a parishioner while the old monastery was being demolished to make way for the new one.

To defray the cost, Christ the King OCDS (Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites) Community and Friends of Carmelites held a successful fundraising dinner on 15 October 2017 to help to pay for the new monastery which cost RM5.9 million to rebuild.

Marcella Zhang

Today’s Catholic Vol.30 No.6 September 2018

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KUCHING — The blessing and ground breaking ceremony by Archbishop Simon Poh for the construction of the Columbarium at St Peter’s Church took place on 5 December 2017. About 50 people consisting of consultants, contractors, parish councillors, members of a Humanitarian Foundation and some parishioners attended the auspicious occasion.

In his welcoming speech, the Archbishop thanked the councillors, parishioners and benefactors, especially the Humanitarian Foundation, to have made this project possible. He said that the Columbarium is a sacred place for keeping the cremated remains of the departed. Through the Humanitarian Foundation, some of the niches will also be made available for the needy and poor Catholics as their final resting place.

A columbarium is a building where ‘niches’ are placed to house cremated remains of the deceased. The name derives from an Italian word ‘columba’, which means ‘the dwelling place of a dove’. Niches are spaces in the walls of the columbarium for the inurnment of human remains after cremation.

When asked why the parish decided to build a columbarium in the parish compound, the rector of St Peter’s Church, Fr Vincent Chin, explained that they are trying to restore an old tradition of the Church. “The old tradition of the Church was to have a cemetery next to a church to make sure that those who passed away were close to the believing community. So all those while, wherever there was a church, there was always a cemetery next to it,” he said.

The proximity of the cemetery to the church makes it convenient for church-goes to visit and pray for their departed loved ones as often as they go to the church. It also serves as a reminder that it is their responsibility to pray for those who are gone, and that they too would be laid there one day. It is also to show that there is nothing to fear about the dead.

With the current scarcity of land in Kuching and the government regulations on burial places, having a cemetery near a church is next to impossible. That is why Catholic cemeteries are located further and further away. The nearest cemetery in Kuching accessible to most Catholics is the one at 13th-1/2 Mile.

“In this kind of situation, people would probably only go to the cemetery twice a year, once during the death anniversary of the person, another on All Souls Day,” remarked Fr Chin. “Other than that, they (the dead) are mostly forgotten,” he said. “The presence of the columbarium will bring that old tradition back.”

“When we decided to have this columbarium, we make it our responsibility and commitment to include the departed on every All Souls Day and every Friday in November and in their death anniversary month, regardless if their families offer Mass for them or not,” said Fr Chin. He said a lot of parishioners are worried there is no one to pray for them when they passed on because their children are overseas and they have no other relatives or friends in town. “We assure them that they will be taken care of,” he added.

The document Ad resurgendum cum Christo, an instruction “regarding the burial of the deceased and the conservation of the ashes in the case of cremation” issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 15 August 2016, mentions that although the Church prefers burial at cemeteries, she has no doctrinal objections towards the practice of cremation. “Cremation of the deceased’s body does not affect his or her soul, nor does it prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life,” the instruction says.

Instead, the Church is more concerned about the proper handling of the cremains. “In the past there was no ruling or guidelines, and so people just simply threw the ashes away,” Fr Chin explained. The document highlighted three points: firstly, the ashes must not be scattered anywhere; secondly, no subdividing of the cremains; and thirdly, the cremains are not allowed to be kept at home.

The practice of scattering of the ashes into the natural environment is a Buddhist practice, he pointed out. “The Buddhists believe that when we die, we enter into nothingness. The ashes are no longer important, and so you can do whatever you like with them,” he said. “However, for us, Catholics, once a person is cremated, the cremains is still the remains of a person, just like the remains of a person who is buried in the ground. So the Church emphasises that proper respect to the ashes must be given,” he added.

On why the Church forbids keeping the ashes at home, Fr Chin said, “Your children may respect you and hence, they would want to keep the urn properly. But for the subsequent generations who do not know you, the chances that the ashes are not properly cared for are high.”

One of the reasons for building a columbarium is that the local church still does not have a decent place for Catholics who opted for cremation. As a result, their ashes have to be interred at Buddhist columbaria. “This is not a good reflection on the church,” he said. “If we allowed for cremation, we must also have a proper place for them too.”

Asked on the procedures to secure a desired niche at the new columbarium, Fr Chin said parishioners can give a specific donation. The donation will be used to build the columbarium, while the excess will go to pay for the construction of the new parish church. “In appreciation of the donation, we offer the donors a space in the columbarium. They don’t own the space. Everything is still owned by the church,” he said.

Such arrangement is made so that, if in the future, should the columbarium need to be relocated to make way for a more important development, or the government suddenly wanted to take back the land where the columbarium is, the church would not need to ask permission from every family whose family members’ remains are kept in the columbarium.

“When that kind of unforeseen circumstances arise, we will relocate the whole columbarium to another new place at our own expense,” said Fr Chin. “The family may choose to bring back the urns or continue to let the church does the safekeeping for them without extra payment,” he said. “The placing of the urn is as permanent as the cemetery.”

There are two types of niches offered, for married couple and single person. The donation for single ones range from RM5K – RM8K, while the donation for married couples range from RM8K – RM13K, depending on the levels. There will be six levels of the niches. The two-storey columbarium can house approximately five thousand people.

Those who are interested to secure a space would need to contact Fr Vincent Chin personally at his office.

The whole contract sum of the project is RM4.028 million. The parish is very grateful to the Humanitarian Foundation headed by Dr Jeffrey Goh, which kindly sponsored RM3.666 million for the building project.

The construction of the columbarium is expected to complete by December 2018.

Audrey Yu

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Today’s Catholic Vol.29 No.10 January 2018