Church of Saint Francis Xavier

Church of Saint Francis Xavier in Melaka

Church of Saint Francis Xavier in Melaka

I continued on walking along the Sungei Melaka, I ran into a place I visited on a previous trip. Actually visit is too strong a word. Since we were in a hurry to get from one place to another, we only passed by the Church of Saint Francis Xavier. This time since I was traveling on my own, I have time to explore the church. It is a little tricky to get to the church from the Sungei Melaka, the church is along the far side of the very busy Jalan Laksamana. I needed to use my road crossing skills here to get to the church. Whatever happens, I would get to the church anyway.

Inside the Church of Saint Francis Xavier

Inside the Church of Saint Francis Xavier

The Church of Saint Francis Xavier was constructed in 1859 using a Neo-Gothic architectural design. The structure isn’t really that remarkable since I have seen a lot of similar churches in the Philippines. The church is dedicated to saint Francis Xavier, who was known for his work in Asia, most notably, India and Japan. He did stop by Melaka for a while en route to Japan where he met Anjiro or Yajiro in some accounts. He spent most of his life in foreign lands, upon his beatification and eventual canonization, he is now regarded as the patron saint of missionaries in foreign lands.

Statue of Saint Francis Xavier

Statue of Saint Francis Xavier

The inside of the church is rather unispiring. Although the church is already more than a hundred years old, it doesn’t really look its age. The entire church is very well maintained with modern conveniences like fans and projectors for the congregation. Regular Catholic church services are still being held here. Since it was a Saturday, I decided to attend Holy Mass here, since I won’t be getting back to Singapore that soon. The service was in English, though I’m sure there are services in other languages.

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