A Visit to the Church of St Joseph, Batu Gajah Ipoh

A visit to St Joseph
Church

Batu Gajah,Ipoh

Malaysia

By
Manish Sherwin
27th October 2021

Today, my family and I except Sneaky took a drive to one of the oldest and the holiest
church in Malaysia. The church is a historic building that traces its history to the arrival of
French missionary Father J.F. Allard. The first wooden church was built in 1882 and the current
building was built in 1928.
This year is a special year dedicated to Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary and the guardian
of Jesus. My mother told me stories about St Joseph and insisted me on following her on this
trip. It was a 3 hour drive from Seremban to Batu Gajah.

Image shows the map of Malaysia and is where Batu Gajah, Ipoh is located.

I also took my best equipment with me and that’s my Bolster to comfort me on this long ride
on a sunny day. When we finally reached there, we were welcomed by Deacon Richard and he
served us lunch. I almost gobbled all the scrumptious food because I was very hungry. My
father told me to slow down and not to finish all the food, especially the spicy chicken masala
dish. After that, he took us on a tour around the holy compound. He asked what I want to know
about this church. I asked him if there was any miracle happened during the last centuries.
Well, he told that Sybil Karthigesu, after her release by the Japanese army visited the church
and she crawled all the way into the church from the entrance. She was very weak at that time
due to the torture while in the prison.
Sybil Karthigesu was born on 3 September 1899. She was a trained nurse during the Japanese
occupation of Malaya who' s skills and determination led her to receiving the title 'Malaysia’s
Florence Nightingale'. She was of French and Penang Eurasian descent and could speak
Cantonese fluently. Along with her husband, Abdon Clement Kathigasu, who was a doctor,
she ran a clinic in Ipoh from 1926 to December 1942, when the Japanese troops first arrived
in Malaya. The couple, along with their three kids, then fled to Papan in Perak where they
secretly provided the resistance forces with medical treatment and supplies. They also

provided the forces with vital information from the BBC, which they listened to on their
shortwave radio. She was soon interrogated by the Japanese and was tortured to reveal
crucial information she had. Though she survived the ordeals, her health had severely
deteriorated. In 1945, when Malaya had been liberated, she was flown to Britain for medical
treatment. Sybil was awarded the George Medal for Gallantry for her courage and bravery
She remains the first and only local woman to ever receive the medal.
She passed away on 12 June 1948 in Lanark, Scotland, from acute septicaemia, which was
brought on by a previous injury she sustained during her torture. Her remains were returned
to Ipoh in 1949, where a large crowd paid her tribute. These are some photographs of her from
google.

For more interesting information about Sybil Kartigesu, please visit :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Kathigasu
We prayed as a family and it felt really good and I felt so calm and peaceful.
My mother and I took some photographs of the church. Later on she went to the garden near
the grotto to take some photos of Mother Mary and the beautiful flowers. She wanted to take
back some home to plant in her garden because she admires and loves them so much but
luckily she didn’t. After that, my uncle and I took a walk to the old hall and the graveyard
behind the church. After spending some quality time there, we decided to head back home.

On the way ,we stopped by the gas station. My uncle bought some donuts for us to eat while
we’re on our way back home.

Few minutes later, I knocked out in the car with my Bolster. The next thing when I woke
up, I was on my bed and beside me was Sneaky. This is my wonderful trip to the St.Joseph
Church.

Pope Francis proclaims “Year of St Joseph”
With the Apostolic Letter “Patris corde” (“With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis recalls the
150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To
mark the occasion, the Holy Father has proclaimed a “Year of Saint Joseph” from today,
8 December 2020, to 8 December 2021.

“A picture is worth a thousand words”

My findings from google:
Who is St Joseph?
Joseph is the patron saint of the Universal Church, families, fathers, expectant mothers,
travelers, immigrants, house sellers and buyers, craftsmen, engineers and working people.

Champaigne, Philippe de: The Dream of Saint Joseph
The Dream of Saint Joseph, oil on canvas by Philippe de Champaigne
Origins in the Gospels
Saint Joseph’s mention is only found in three ‘Gospels’: the ‘Gospel of Matthew,’ the ‘Gospel of Luke,’
and the ‘Gospel of John.’ There is no mention of him in the ‘Gospel of Mark.’ The ‘Gospel of John’
mentions him only once in ‘John’ 6:42, where he is mentioned as Jesus’s father.

According to the ‘Gospel of Matthew, ’ which traces Jesus’s ancestry back to King David, Joseph was
born in 100 BC in the city of Bethlehem. Not much is mentioned about his life before his marriage to
Mary, Jesus’s mother.

According to the gospels, Joseph married the Virgin Mary before he found out that she was pregnant.
Upon finding out about her condition, he was scared for Mary’s life, as at that time, the punishment
for a woman getting pregnant without getting married was death. Fearing for her life, he did not reveal
anything about her pregnancy. However, he planned to divorce her in secret.
It has been written that an angel had come to him and told him not to divorce her because she was
carrying the Holy Spirit, the son of God, inside her womb. Joseph believed this and dropped the
intention of divorcing her.
It has also been written that the angels visited Joseph several times, and upon her recommendation,
Joseph named the baby “Yeshua.” The baby was born healthy. Word about his birth spread rapidly.
While Joseph and Mary previously lived in Nazareth, Jesus’s birthplace is mentioned as Bethlehem.
The ‘Book of Luke,’ however, mentions that the move from Nazareth to Bethlehem was made by
Joseph due to his belief that Bethlehem was the City of David, the origin of Joseph’s clan.
Jesus was born in a manger. Shepherds and the magi, a class of priests, came from faraway lands
to celebrate the birth of the son of God. Following Jesus’s birth, the family moved back to Nazareth.
As the news of the birth of the Messiah spread, King Herod became furious. The king deemed these
rumors as a potential threat to his throne.

An angel appeared yet again and told Joseph to take
his newborn and wife to Egypt, as King Herod was not too kind.
The angel asked him to keep his family there until the death of
King Herod.
After Herod’s death, Joseph avoided the king’s son, who was as
cruel as his father,
and settled in Nazareth in Galilee. This is the last mention
of Joseph in the ‘Gospel of Matthew.’
The ‘Gospel of Luke,’ however, narrates the story in a
more detailed manner. There are minor differences in the accounts
of the gospels.Another story mentioned in the ‘Book of Luke’
is related to a young Jesus at 12 years of age.
According to the story, the family went to Jerusalem
on their yearly pilgrimage.
Once the feast was over, Mary and Joseph left the town
without Jesus, thinking that he was in
some other part of the caravan.

When they found out that he was not there, they went in

search of him. He was then found in a temple. His parents

found out that Jesus had already made a strong impression

on the priests and the commoners there. Beyond that, none of the gospels mention Joseph.

Sainthood & Death

Saint Joseph’s death finds no mention in any of the gospels or in any other credible source. However,
it is believed that he died somewhere around 1 AD and several accounts also mention that he lived
for 111 years. The estimate about the year of his death is based on the fact that Joseph is not
mentioned anywhere when Jesus’s crucifixion has been mentioned. So it has been assumed that he
was already dead by that time. Despite the fact that Joseph has always been regarded as a saint in
Catholic and Orthodox traditions, Joseph was not really celebrated on his own account in the Western
countries until the later half of the Middle Ages. In December 1870, Pope Pius IX proclaimed Joseph
as the “Patron of the Universal Church.”

Joseph is regarded as the patron saint of workers, and several feast days are dedicated to him. He
is also known as the patron of sickness and happy death.

Memorare to St. Joseph

Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who
implored your help and sought your intercession were left unassisted. Full of confidence in your power
I fly unto you and beg your protection. Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer my humble
supplication, but in your bounty, hear and answer me. Amen.

Act of Consecration to St. Joseph

O dearest St. Joseph, I consecrate myself to your honor and give myself to you, that you may always
be my father, my protector and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me a greater purity of
heart and fervent love of the interior life. After your example may I do all my actions for the greater
glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. O Blessed
St. Joseph, pray for me, that I may share in the peace and joy of your holy death. Amen.

ST. JOSEPH PRAYER

To you, O blessed Joseph (Ad te, beate Ioseph)
To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our afflictions, and having implored the help of your most
holy Spouse, we confidently invoke your patronage also.
Through that charity which bound you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the
paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you graciously to regard the
inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with your power and strength to aid
us in our necessities.
O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most
loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty
protector, be kind to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness.
As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God’s Holy Church from the
snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by your constant protection,
so that, supported by your example and your aid, we may be able to live piously, to die in holiness,
and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.