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St. Joseph Dying Aid Association
By Peace | July 2, 2008
This is my book, one of the book which I had taken from St Joseph Dying Aid Association, when my parents became their members many many years back. My sister took the Chinese version, while I took the English version.
St. Joseph Dying Aid Association is the Catholic association in Singapore which provides coffins and funeral services to its members. The association, which was formed almost 80 years ago, began as a gathering of parishioners from Serangoon Catholic Church (now Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary), who came together in the homes of seriously ill and dying parishioners to pray to God to alleviate their sufferings, but mainly to help them to receive the sacraments of reconciliation, anointing of the sick and Holy Communion, so as to meet death without sin and enjoy eternal life in heaven.
On Feb 13, 1926, the St. Joseph Dying Aid Association was registered as a non-profit organization with Father Becharas as spiritual director, Goh Lye Khiam as president, and Joseph Yeo Koh as Honorary Secretary.
Stephen Lee, grandson of the first Honorary Secretary, may become an active member after experiencing the good work of the prayer group at the recent wake and funeral of his father. “Their care and concern for the souls is very encouraging,” said Mr Lee.
Every night, about 30 members from the Teochew speaking group and about 20 members from the English speaking group pray at Catholic wakes at different locations. Buses are chartered to transport each group, which are made up of mostly senior citizens some already in their eighties, to the wakes.
Each group typically prays for about 45 minutes at a wake. On busy nights, a group may visit up to three wakes. The members often do not get home until about 11pm.
When there are more wakes than their members can handle, or the distance to travel is too great, the association often works with their associate members in the parishes of Risen Christ, St. Joseph (Bukit Timah), St. Francis of Assisi and Christ the King.
This is the Romanised Teochew prayer book used at wakes.At the wakes, prayers flow melodiously in Teochew when the Teochew group is in attendance. Prayer group members recite the prayers from memory although a Romanised prayer book is available.
Members of the association contribute an annual subscription fee of $6. Membership entitles a member to the attendance of a prayer group for three nights at his wake, among other services.
The association also has a Benevolent Section with about 1,500 members. Members pay $12 a year and upon his death, his family receives some financial benefits.
For more information on the association and its prayer and Benevolent sections, call 6288-0154. Ah Boon can be reached at 6288-3363.
Both my paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents and great grandparents were dead already. I attended all the funeral, and I saw how Catholics Funerals were different from other religion. Everytime anyone died, St Joseph Dying Aid Association’s people would come to sing the prayer, very sad song.
Yesterday I was searching for one of the photograph, taken during one of my grandparents’ wake, showing all the grandchildren and the association. I could not find it. I had misplaced it or perhaps thrown it away (cannot remember already) –Because I felt so scared when I see those photographs. I remembered very clearly now, at this instant. My sister also took photographs of my paternal grandmother. Her name is Maria Lee, and she was considered ‘Holy’, even though people said she was ‘crazy’ or ’siao’(insane)…. My sister took so many photographs of her coffin and her ‘face’, which looked so scary during those days when I viewed the photo album. That is why, I don’t have them now.
Today is Gregory Yong’s funeral, going to be cremated. It was raining just now, when I was thinking about him, and reading about Catholic Christian Funerals. Yesterday, early in the morning about 7am, when I woke up, walking to the living room, I saw a rather big brown colour flying insect. It was flapping its wings so fast, never stopped at all, throughout its presence at my house, near the windows. It looked like a moth and a butterfly, all brown, more like a moth than butterfly.
When my grandmother, Maria Lee died, so many big black-and-white butterflies flew into our Boon Lay house. This time, Gregory Yong died, and this special moth/butterfly flew to my house.
Beloved Gregory Yong
RIP Gregory Yong
Topics: Family, Internet, Personal, Singapore, View All, animals, collection, home, spiritual |
July 7th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
[…] weather, very cool, with all the birds tweeting… So this is Catholic Funeral, Serangoon Catholic Church St Joseph Dying Aid Association Servant of Christ, Apostle Paul This picture above is my paternal grandfather. A picture I managed […]