Deepavali Church Hopping

On Deepavali, my BEC organized a Klang pilgrimage. Surprisingly, we even managed to attract a neighbouring BEC to tag along, making it two bus-loads of people. Gathered at church and had a priest perform a mass blessing before we went on our way. The first church we visited was the Church of the Holy Redeemer at Taman Berkerley, Klang. Its not a particularly old church but it has some interesting features. When approaching the church, one doesn't catch sight of the small statue of Christ the Redeemer out front, but will definitely notice the large Pieta installed on the roof. And to the side of the main building is a newly-constructed arched grotto with a style that reminded me a little of Parc Guell. Installed within is a statue of Our Lady of Grace. We started with a full rosary session at the grotto and later moved into library cum hall for some refreshments. Those with their pilgrimage passports also got them stamped at the parish office. The parish priest's office has a treasure trove of cute porcelain statues with religious themes.















Then we gathered in the church for a welcoming session by the parish priest and some praise and worship. One member of the welcoming committee also gave us a very detailed account of the church's history. It was so detailed that we missed our lunch reservation by one hour! The church also houses a relic of Saint Faustina Kowalska. When in Klang, eat what the Klang-ites eat-- BKT. Ate at Restoran Batu Belah Boon Hua not because its famous, but because of its ability to feed 88 extra customers at one go and have parking for two buses. Took quite some time to get everyone fed. A messy lunch. The bill came to about RM1,400. With just one pot of dry and soup BKT per table, I don't think it was a good deal.



As we were leaving for the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes (1928), it started to rain heavily. But that was no problem as the welcoming committee was armed with golf umbrellas. A very attentive group. The church had a beautiful interior. The altar was newly-renovated and they had some nice stained glass windows. As usual, we had a praise and worship session and later moved to the chapel that housed the window panels from Sime Darby Medical Center with the Marian image. The image on one window did resemble Our Lady of Grace, but I couldn't make out what was on the second window. It was open to interpretation and had no official verification from the church.











Last on our list was Church of St. Thomas More, Subang Jaya that was recently in the news for a 'miracle' related to their newly-installed statue of the Virgin Mary. In a circulated video, a parishioner gave testimony that he saw the statue smile, cry and turn her head slowly. The church is quite new, built in a light industrial area like the Church of Divine Mercy. The interior is modern with a beautiful stained glass feature above the altar. And the Stations of the Cross were painted by a parishioner. Got home in time for dinner.













Mum and I dined at Wong Kok, AEON Taman Equine. Tried their Portugese cheese-baked rice. Honestly, its like the usual cheese-baked rice with curry powder. Did some shopping then went home to rest. It had been a long day.