Catholicism in Singapore | Of Beliefs & Faiths - video Dailymotion

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Why are there stained glasses in churches? What actually happens during Easter? What do the symbols in a church mean? We visit the Church of St. Anthony, and speak to Father Ignatius to learn more about Catholicism, as well as experience Easter vigil for the first time.    Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video

Transcript

00:00We are exploring the rich spectrum of beliefs that shape our cultural landscape.

00:06From ancient practices to contemporary expressions of faith,

00:10delve into the vibrant tapestry of rituals, customs and spiritual narratives flourishing in Singapore.

00:18The Catholic Church is amongst the oldest institutions in the world.

00:32Its history can be traced back almost 2,000 years.

00:36Although Catholicism didn't reach our shores until the 19th century,

00:40it has grown to almost 400,000 believers here today.

00:45Hi Father, I'm Sindhu. Thank you so much for having me.

00:48Welcome to our Catholic Church of St Anthony.

00:51Very nice to have you here today.

00:52Thank you.

00:53Today, I will take you around the Catholic Church

00:55and show you what typically you will encounter when you enter a Catholic Church.

01:02Wow, Father, this church is beautiful.

01:05Yes, indeed it is.

01:16So first, when you enter into the Catholic Church,

01:19you will see this bowl attached to the wall.

01:22This bowl contains the holy water and so we call this the holy water stoop.

01:27The purpose of this is when the faithful come into the church,

01:30they dip their hands into this water,

01:32they make the sign of the cross,

01:34and they recall their baptism.

01:36It is much like when you board a plane,

01:38the first thing they offer you is a nice hot towel.

01:42And they allow the grace of God to refresh their body, mind and soul again.

01:47Alright, Sindhu, let me take you to another place in our church.

01:51Sure.

01:52Now, let me show you this room that has been featured in many Hollywood movies.

01:58Some people, when they enter the Catholic Church,

02:00they think, why is there a kind of changing room in this church?

02:05It is a confessional,

02:07Wow, I've never seen the inside of an actual confession booth.

02:11Wow, okay.

02:12It is a kind of changing room.

02:14They come in here,

02:15they confess to the priest who's seated on the other side.

02:18And here, the priest then forgives the person's sin on behalf of God

02:25and also on behalf of the church.

02:27You know your congregation well, right?

02:29Has there ever been an instance where you can really feel like,

02:33You know your congregation well, right?

02:35Has there ever been an instance where you can recognise

02:38the voice of the person making confession?

02:41Well, if a person is very familiar with the priest,

02:43they themselves are very creative.

02:45Sometimes you can tell that they are trying to disguise their voice.

02:49So, we never try to decipher who that person is.

02:55Asking for forgiveness wasn't always this straightforward.

02:59The price of sin is death,

03:01and in the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed

03:04so that they instead would die in the place of sinners.

03:08That's until God sent His Son as the ultimate sacrifice.

03:13The other feature that you see in some Catholic churches are stained glass.

03:17Right, yes.

03:18The purpose of the stained glass has a theological meaning behind it.

03:22God is pure light, and so He's unperceivable.

03:25But the stained glass, we can see its beauty and brilliance

03:29because it allows the light to come through it.

03:32And so in Catholic churches, we have images of saints,

03:36and of Jesus, of Mary,

03:38allow the light of God to pass through them.

03:42And so it is through them, Jesus, Mary and the saints,

03:45that we are now able to perceive the brilliance, the beauty,

03:50the love and the warmth of God Himself.

03:53I see.

03:54I am starting to see that symbolism is a big part of the Catholic faith,

03:59and Fr Ignatius gives me a very thorough lesson

04:02on the meanings behind the imagery found at the Church of St Anthony.

04:07These are Greek letters.

04:09So the PX that you see is actually Khi-ro, C-H-R,

04:15the first three letters of the word Christ.

04:19And the letter A there is Alpha,

04:22and this horseshoe thing is actually called Omega.

04:26It's the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

04:29And so it depicts Christ, the beginning and the end.

04:34The most important and central part of any church celebration

04:38is the altar and crucifix.

04:40Sindhu, the most important and the highest point of our celebration

04:47is the altar.

04:49Just behind the altar is the crucifix.

04:52The crucifix depicts three moments of this celebration.

04:58Firstly, the crucifix reminds us that this celebration,

05:03this banquet of the Lord,

05:05is a celebration of Christ giving of Himself to us,

05:09His body and His blood.

05:11And then there's the second movement,

05:13where Christ gave Himself for us 2,000 years ago,

05:17is made present here and now, today.

05:21Then there's the third movement.

05:23This that is made present for us today

05:26is a foretaste of our life in heaven,

05:30where Christ, who is the slain Lamb,

05:34reigns upon His throne, the cross.

05:38I also want to ask, because there's a Catholic Church

05:42and there's a Protestant Church,

05:44and they both fall under the larger umbrella of Christianity,

05:49what are the main similarities and differences

05:53between these two faiths?

05:55We all recognise and accept baptism as the entry into Christianity.

06:04The Catholic Church, for us, we believe in seven sacraments.

06:08And so we say we are sacramental people.

06:11Jesus came to us as the first sacrament.

06:14And so in a sacrament, we can see God, touch God, be loved by God.

06:19That is what a sacrament is.

06:21And besides sacraments, then we also have sacramentals,

06:24meaning other forms.

06:26And that's why we have holy water, images.

06:30From my understanding, there's a lot of use of incense,

06:33is that something that...

06:34So those are sacramentals.

06:36So we engage the senses, so to say.

06:41Father Ignatius invites me to celebrate Easter with the Church.

06:45It's the holiest day in Catholicism

06:47and I am looking forward to experiencing it for myself.

06:53So here I am at the Easter vigil

06:55and what I know about Easter growing up

06:57is that it's actually the holiest celebration for all Christians

07:02because it's a celebration of Christ's resurrection.

07:05It is a big crowd

07:07and the first thing that I noticed when I got in

07:09was actually everybody is so well-dressed.

07:12Yeah, that's the first thing that I noticed when I got in.

07:14And as you can see, we're all carrying candles too,

07:17which I believe will be lit later on.

07:24In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

07:31Amen.

07:36Father Ignatius starts the vigil by blessing the fire

07:40and making inscriptions of Christ into the Paschal Candle.

07:44The candle is then lit

07:46and the congregation follows as it makes its way around the Church.

07:53The Paschal Candle is a very important part of today's ceremony.

07:57That's the candle we just saw Father Ignatius light.

08:00It's made of pure beeswax to represent Christ's sinless nature.

08:05The wick represents his humanity

08:08and the flame represents his divinity.

08:11Now you can see the entire congregation is following behind.

08:16So the thing that's most striking to me right now

08:18is actually the smell of the incense.

08:20It smells absolutely beautiful.

08:23After one round, the procession stops at the entrance of the Church.

08:28The flame from the Paschal Candle will be used to light our candles.

08:35As you can see, the Church is in complete darkness.

08:39And it is only with the lighting of this candle that the light will be brought in.

08:52The Lord is my light, my light and salvation

08:57In God I trust, in God I trust

09:02The atmosphere is solemn

09:04but I can almost feel a sense of excitement in the air

09:08as the flame is passed down.

09:10In God I trust, in God I trust

09:15The Lord is my light, my light and salvation

09:21In God I trust, in God I trust

09:28The Lord is my light, my light and salvation

09:34In God I trust

09:37As we enter, the Church is gradually filled with little dots of light.

09:44It's a beautiful sight.

09:47In God I trust, in God I trust

09:58The light of Christ

10:03leads me to God

10:08Some of the lights in the Church just came on

10:13but I believe it's only after the Easter Proclamation

10:16that the lights at the altar will be lit.

10:27The Easter Proclamation, also known as the Exalted,

10:32is a proclamation of the resurrection of Christ.

10:35For 10 minutes, an invitation is sung to Heaven and Earth

10:39to join with the Church in joy and jubilation.

10:46Be glad, let earth be glad as glory floods her

10:53Ablaze with light from her eternal King

10:59Let all corners of the earth be glad

11:04Knowing an end to gloom and darkness

11:11Please be seated and extinguish your candles.

11:14So we've just been told that we can be seated

11:17and that we're allowed to extinguish our candles.

11:25The next part is a series of readings known as the Liturgy of the Word.

11:30After the fifth reading, the Gloria is sung,

11:34an ancient hymn that begins with the words that the angels sang

11:38when announcing the birth of Christ.

11:41So the Gloria has not been sung in 40 days.

11:45We've been told that today when it is sung,

11:48all the bells in the Church are going to be ringing as well.

11:51It's bound to be a beautiful moment.

11:54Glory to God in the highest

12:25I'm not lying but I got goosebumps.

12:35The hymns are beautiful to say the least.

12:39You can hear their devotion carried within their singing

12:43and binding the congregation together.

12:47So the Alleluia which we're hearing the congregation sing right now

12:52is another thing that has not been sung in 40 days.

13:16Alleluia

13:19Because it is the holiest day in Catholicism,

13:23many Catholics choose to be baptised on Easter.

13:27As a symbol of their sins being washed away,

13:30they are submerged in water three times,

13:33one each for the Holy Trinity,

13:36the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

13:40Alleluia

13:44Today, 21 of them are making this public declaration

13:48of renouncing sin and accepting God into their lives.

13:52Alleluia

13:57Some of those who are being baptised today

14:00are very, very young like this little kid over there.

14:03Father Ignatius is being extra kind and caring

14:08during the dunking in the baptismal water.

14:19Before the celebration draws to an end,

14:22we are blessed with holy water

14:24and communion is received by the congregation.

14:38One cup of blessing which we bless

14:47and we...

14:52Like Father Ignatius told me the last time I was here,

14:55this was really a multi-sensorial experience.

14:58From the smell of the incense

15:01to the sound of everybody singing in perfect unison

15:05to walking together into the church from darkness into light.

15:09It was truly an amazing experience

15:11and even though you're not Catholic,

15:12you can't help but sing along to the hymns.

15:15You can't help but feel moved.

15:17I'm really, really grateful that I got to spend this time here

15:20at the Church of St Anthony

15:21and I'd like to thank you for joining me on this journey as well.

15:25Till we meet again,

15:26thank you for watching this episode of Of Beliefs and Faith.

15:35One cup of blessing which we bless

15:44and we...

Catholicism in Singapore | Of Beliefs & Faiths

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