St. Peter Church, Melaka (restored)

‘\r\n\r\nI have never been to any other churches on my own and was feeling awkward about going to St. Peter\’s Church in Melaka all by myself. Originally my children wanted to come along but after their long car trip from Penang to Melaka they dozed off towards the time of the sunset mass.\r\n\r\nI read about St. Peter\’s Church from the internet and knew that it is the oldest Roman-Catholic Church in Malaysia. Therefore I was all excited of being there to celebrate mass with the parishioner of Melaka.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nYou may read about the history from the plaque above. I regret that I did not have time to even take the photos of the church. All these photos were taken by my husband who dropped me there. We were caught in Jonker Walk\’s partially closed mazes of lanes plus we had to hunt for the church. By the time I reached sunset mass was about to start. \r\n\r\nSince everything was in a rush I did not introduce myself to the ushers/wardens that I am from out of town. I fumbled a bit during mass because the parishioners there pronounce Amen differently from Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Penang. It is quite funny because each time my Amen stucked out like a sore thumb.\r\n\r\nI was there during the Ephinany of the Lord and the mass was short and sweet. I also do not know the name of the parish priest! Because my in-laws were right outside waiting for me to go for dinner and I didn\’t even say hello to Father.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOverall it is not exactly a very relaxing mass because I was all eyes and ears to see how things go. Their lectors had to climb up several steps on the lectern. Wow scary. The first lector for some reason had to stand at the lectern during the psalm and waited to bow with the second lector. *cold sweats* I was in the Lector ministry and also the choir plus projection (of overhead projector slides) team. Therefore I was so eager to compare notes between my church and how others do it at their church. \r\n\r\nIn the end I am afraid that it was more of an observation trip than a mass proper. Anyway I wish the parishioners sitting near me would have at least know that I am not from their parish and greet me instead of leaving me wondering how to queue for holy communion and also what are their collections for. I asked and the answer I got was I don\’t know!. Oh well this reminds me to smile more when I am in my own church so that out-of-towners won\’t feel awkward like me. ‘ ‘St. Peter\’s Church Melaka ‘