游行与庆祝庆节是天主教传统不可或缺的一部份，如同世上每一个天主教家庭领受圣事及诵念玫瑰经一样是不可缺少的。在新加坡，圣若瑟庆节略具本地独特传统的色彩，是植根于第一批法国外方传教士初抵新加坡时的教会。市区的华人传教场地常是该地区华人教友的 “母教会”，也是华人教友曾有过的联系。但是，市区华人教友直至1870年才拥有属于自己的教堂。第一间真正属于华人堂区的教堂是圣若瑟堂(1846)，然后是实龙岗的圣母圣诞堂(1853)。
早期大多数的华人基督徒是农夫或种植者，后来虽然他们当中有很多人离开了新加坡，移居到柔佛去，但仍旧与新加坡的姐妹教会保持联络。由于武吉知马的圣若瑟堂位于通往柔佛的主要道路上，而成了那些越过新柔长堤的教友与新加坡市区教友的联系处。经过一段时期，圣若瑟堂主保日就演变成一个让教友们保持联系的每年一次聚集在一起的日子，不仅共同庆祝庆节，更将新马两地的教友们再度连结起来。
朝圣者的教堂
在新加坡天主教徒的记忆中，圣若瑟的节日常以盛大隆重的庆典在武吉知马庆祝。圣若瑟堂经常是新加坡与马来西亚天主教徒的朝圣教堂。没有人记得这隆重敬礼的真正起源。有关敬礼的传说很多，也基于各式各样的理由来“敬礼圣若瑟”。但所有教友似乎都同意圣若瑟不仅是“他神性的儿子的监护人与保护者”，他也是我们的保护者、劳工主保和善终主保。早期的新加坡，许多华人移民从事种植园的劳作，生活十分艰苦，受伤或死亡是常有的事。所以早期基督徒如此敬重圣若瑟并不令人感到惊奇。圣若瑟敬礼似乎始于19世纪末。以下是1923年的报导。
“每年，复活节后的第三主日，为敬重圣若瑟，新加坡市区所有教堂的天主教徒成群结队地蜂拥到离市区十几公里外的武吉知马的教堂朝圣，以奉献给圣若瑟…。这朝圣的习俗由来已久，肯定超过40年(自1880年代?)，而且朝圣者的人数似乎逐年增加。从前，很多朝圣者是以步行的方式。如今，交通工具已大大改善。”
二战前，在圣若瑟的庆节，从市区来的许多天主教徒会在登路 (Tank Road) 靠近圣心堂处，搭乘火车到圣若瑟堂。前往柔佛的火车，在每年的这一天也会特地在圣若瑟堂前停留片刻，以方便朝圣者上下车。同样地，从马来西亚南下的火车，也会在教堂处刻意停留，而这些教友则大多数来自柔佛。
另一群朝圣者从圣伯多禄圣保禄堂启程，徒步到武吉知马。他们是受圣伯多禄圣保禄堂照顾的老人。当他们到达圣若瑟堂矗立的小山脚下，就在马路的两旁排队，然后列队登上教堂，并开始乞讨。与老妇人在一起的，尚有瞎子和病人。他们乞求前来恭敬劳工主保的朝圣者，给予一点援助。从露德圣母堂及越过新柔长堤的印度妇女也来募捐，但她们不是为了自己而募捐的。他们当中许多人是前来请求圣若瑟为他们的各种难题代祷，也有不少人回来乞求是为答谢圣若瑟，因他的代祷使他们从天主那儿获得了恩典与奇迹。他们身穿白衣，在教堂的梯级处乞讨，并把所筹得的款项放入圣若瑟态像足前的捐献箱。如今，除了三两位印度妇女外，几乎已无乞丐出现在圣若瑟庆节了。
从上世纪50年代至70年代，马来西亚的朝圣者通常乘火车南下，并在主保日庆典前的星期五抵达。几乎全部的朝圣者在儿童城的场地上搭营露宿。他们会一直参与庆祝活动，直至星期天，才搭火车回家。
主保日义卖会及游行
1952年之前，圣若瑟堂的主保日并没有义卖会，只有数不尽的朝圣者前来敬礼圣若瑟。但为替圣若瑟英华学校（St. Joseph’s Sino-English School）的新课室筹款，堂区于1952年首次举办主保日义卖会。以下是The Singapore Standard 在1952年5月6日的报导。
“超过三千名来自新加坡及马来亚各地的天主教徒于星期天到武吉知马的圣若瑟堂，参加一年一度的主保圣人庆典，并参与该堂丰富多彩的庆祝活动。许多不同种族的朝圣者是为感恩还愿，也许下新的誓愿。
庆典最精彩的是祝圣来自法国的圣若瑟新态像。Bonamy副主教在当天早晨主持大礼弥撒，Fr Barthelot 及 Fr Simon Yim 襄礼。举办义卖会是为了位于武吉班让的圣若瑟华人学校的筹款。现今已达99年的教堂，将在明年大事庆祝建堂一百周年纪念。”
从1952年起，义卖会已成为主保日常年庆典的活动之一。同时，圣若瑟态像游行也从1952年起由新圣若瑟态像代替，并自此成为庆典的惯例。
常年庆节从来不只是一天的庆祝活动。从它的开端直至今天，它已成为团结大家在一起的事件。或许，透过每年圣若瑟堂主保日的庆祝，大家的通力合作，邓若敬神父才能集合一组人，共同建立新教堂（竣工于上世纪60年代）。
历经超过一个世纪的年度圣若瑟庆节，将各个种族及地区的天主教徒团结起来，这不是其他庆节所能比拟的。在上世纪50年代，甚至是居住在万礼比较贫穷的教友也捐赠现款及其他物品。印度天主教徒把花环加添在巨大的圣若瑟态像上，更增添庆典的壮丽。他们自动自发地在当天清洗教堂，把它当作自己的家一样。为表达对所有圣若瑟堂宾客的感激之情，有好些堂区教友也通宵达旦地为义卖会准备足够的食物以及供应食物给乞讨者。
于1995年，Mrs Berda Fernandez是两位依旧在主保日当天在圣若瑟堂的梯级乞讨中的其中一位。谈及她与教堂的特殊机缘，她说：“我来自吉隆坡。我最小儿子不久前失踪。我相信圣若瑟会帮助我。我告诉自己我会继续不断地为他的归来祈祷，直至我临死的那一天。我的丈夫已经去世……，我开始与一组穿白色纱丽的妇女们一起祈祷。有一次，华人主教在弥撒后问我为什么站在烈阳下。我告诉他，圣若瑟一定会俯允我的祈求。
在我开始祈祷后的第四年，我儿子回来了。他曾去沙巴。所以现在我祈求及乞讨，把所筹得的钱放进箱子里。”
在新加坡，从来就没有任何一位圣人的敬礼超越圣若瑟的，且在天主教会的传统及敬礼上作为一个显著的典范。通过这些传统，天主子民受提醒，我们不论种族、语言或阶级都是属于一个家庭。对某些人来说，只要有足够的信德及坚忍，他们的祈祷一定会受俯允。
作者：Clement Liew 译者：谢文端
St Joseph’s Feast Day : Our Days of Pilgrimage
Clement Liew Wei Chiang
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Processions and celebrating Feast Days are an integral part of the Catholic Church’s tradition as receiving sacraments and reciting the rosary are to every Catholic family in the world. In Singapore, St Joseph’s Feast Day is somewhat a unique local tradition that has its roots in the way the Church had been planted in Singapore since the arrival of the first French missionaries. The Chinese Mission grounds in Town had always been the “Mother Church” to which the Chinese Catholics of the region had always been connected. However, as the Chinese Catholics in Town did not have a church of their own till 1870, the first Chinese parish church is actually St Joseph’s (1846) followed by Nativity in Serangoon (1853). Most Chinese Christian planters and farmers who gone farther afield, migrating from Singapore to Johore had kept their links with their sister churches in the interior of Singapore. St Joseph’s at Bukit Timah, in particular, lying strategically along the main trunk road to Johore, connected the Town Catholics with those who had crossed the Causeway. Over time, St Joseph’s Feast Day evolved to become the opportune time for all the connected Catholics to gather once a year to co-celebrate not just the Feast Day, but also to renew ties.
The Pilgrim’s Church
For as long as any Catholic in Singapore can remember, St. Joseph’s Feast Day has always been celebrated at Bukit Timah with great festivities. St. Joseph’s has always been a pilgrim church to the Catholics of Singapore as well as Malaysia. Where this source of great devotion originated from no one really remembers. The legends are many and the reasons for “going to Joseph” are varied. But all seems to agree that he is not only the “guardian and protector of his divine Son,” he is also our protector, the patron Saint of Workers as well as the patron Saint of Good Death. In the old days when many of the Chinese immigrants labourers toiling in the plantations, life was certainly harsh, and injury or death was not uncommon. For the early Christians have a great devotion to St. Joseph’s would not be surprising. The great devotion of St. Joseph’s appears to have begun in late nineteenth century. It was reported in 1923,
“every year, the 3rd Sunday after Easter, in the solemnity of St. Joseph’s, a great crowd of Catholics belonging to all the churches in the town of Singapore, go on a pilgrimage to the church of Bukit Timah, for a distant of a dozen kilometers, dedicated to St. Joseph’s…. The habit of this pilgrimage has been in existence for a long time now, certainly for more than 40 years (1880s ?), and the number of pilgrims seemed to be increasing every year. In the old days, many of them went on foot. But nowadays, the means of transport have improved greatly.”
In the pre-war years, on St. Joseph’s Feast Day, many Catholics from town would catch a train ride from Tank Road, near Sacred Heart Church, to St. Joseph’s. And the train, on the way to Johore, would often made a special once a year stop in front of the church for the pilgrims to alight. And likewise, the trains coming down from Malaysia would also make that special stop at the church. Most of them had come from Johore.
At Sts. Peter and Paul Church, another troop of pilgrims would set off on foot to Bukit Timah. They were the old folks taken care of by Sts. Peter and Paul. When they reached Bukit Timah, at the foot of the hill which the church stands, they would line up on both sides of the road going up to the church, and begin begging. And with these old women, came the blind and the sick, seeking a little generosity from those who have come to honour the patron Saint of Workers. Indian women from the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes and from across the Causeway also came to seek alms, but not for themselves. Many of them came to ask St. Joseph to intercede for them, to help them with one problem or another. Many also return to beg “St. Joseph” for a miracle or favour granted to them by God which they would attribute to the Saint. They would all dress in white and beg at the steps of the Church. The money collected would then be put into the donation box at the feet of the statue of St. Joseph. Today, with the exception of a couple of Indian ladies, there are almost no beggars St. Joseph’s during Feast Days.
From the 1950s to 1970s, pilgrims from Malaysia would make their way down to Bukit Timah by train on the Friday before the Feast Day celebrations. Almost all of them would camp over on the grounds of Boys’ Town. They would then part take in the celebration till Sunday, before returning home by train.
The Feast Day Fun Fairs and Procession
Before 1952, there were no Fun Fairs on St Joseph’s Feast Day, only a lively scene of countless pilgrims who would come to venerate St. Joseph. But with the need to raise funds for the new classrooms of the St Joseph’s Sino-English School led to the organizing of the first Feast Day Fun Fair in 1952. The Singapore Standard of 6 May 1952 reports,
“More than 3,000 Roman Catholics from Singapore and various parts of the Federation visited St. Joseph’s Church, at Bukit Panjang on Sunday for the annual colourful celebration of the feast of the patron saint of the church. The pilgrims of many races offer thanks for vows fulfilled, and to make new vows. The highlight of the celebration was the blessing of the new statue of St. Joseph, brought over from France. The Vicar General, the Rt. Rev. Fr. N Bonamy, officiated the solemn High Mass in the morning, assisted by Rev. Frs. Barthelot and Simon Yim. A Fun Fair was also held to raise funds for the St. Joseph’s Chinese School in Bukit Panjang. The church now 99 years old, is preparing to celebrate its centenary next year, on an elaborate scale.”
Hence, from 1952, the Fun Fair became an annual affair on Feast Days, and a procession of the statue of St. Joseph’s, started with the procession of the new statue in 1952, became a regular feature of the Feast Day from then on.
The annual Feast Day has never been just a day of festivities. From its inception till today, it has been an annual affair that pulled the people together. Perhaps, it is through this yearly co-operation during the Feast of St. Joseph that Fr. Teng could put together a team that would see through the erection of the new church (completed in the 1960s). The annual St Joseph’s Feast Day has also for more than a century pulled Catholics of all races and districts together like no other Feast Day could. In the 1950s, even the poor parishioners at Mandai chipped in by donating cash and kind. The Indian Catholics would add to the splendor of the festivities by brandishing the huge statue of St. Joseph with garlands. They would also clean the church on that day as if it was their own home, without being asked. And to show appreciation to all of St. Joseph’s guests, there would be some parishioners who would work over night to prepare enough food for the Fun Fair as well as to feed those pleading for alms.
In 1995, Mrs. Belda Fernandez was one of the two Indian ladies still begging at the steps of St. Joseph’s during the Feast Day, spoke of her special connection with the church…
“I am from K.L. My youngest son went missing some time ago. I believed St. Joseph would help me. [I told myself that] I will continue praying [for his return] till my dying days. My husband had already passed away…. I started praying with a group of ladies who were dressed in white saris. Once the Chinese bishop came and asked me why I was standing in the hot sun, it was after Mass. I told him that then St. Joseph would answer my prayers. On the fourth year after I had started praying, my son returned. He had been to Sabah. [So I pray and beg now], and I put the money in the box.”
In Singapore, there has never been a more poignant example of the important role of tradition and devotion to saints in the Roman Catholic Church, than in the devotion to St. Joseph. It is through these traditions that the people of God are reminded that we belong to one family, regardless of ethnicity and language or class. And for some, with enough faith and fortitude, their prayers would be granted.
