Remembering The College Martyrs

            REMEMBERING THE COLLEGE MARTYRS

It was 4pm. The Sun was literally baking me up in the cavity of my car although the air conditioner was switched on to the maximum as I was on the road driving. I was going to fetch my mum to a Catholic Seminary training Institute known in Penang as College General. I was playing the organ for their celebration that day. It was the College General feast day - A Day of remembering the students of the College from the 1800’s whom gave their life for their faith. They were martyred for their faith overseas.

While I was driving, I realised how years ago when I was a child my mom would be the one driving and I was a little boy tagging along with her. As she was a language teacher there ( and still is till today), I knew quite well of the activities run by the College . The College would get very busy and in organizing the yearly special day with a special feast day Mass and a fellowship after that. In some years I remembered they would do dramas and plays about the history of the College and also about their cherished Saints.

During the course of attending the feast day I saw seminarians( the students whom are studying to be a Priest) working hard. Over the years then I would see some of the seminarians whom had graduated to be priests celebrating the Mass during the College feast day. In fact the current Rector of the College , Father Gerard Theravium, was a seminarian when I attended the mass years ago. I have made friends with the community of priests and seminarians during these course. Although I was not a student there , for many of the people in Penang, the College has it’s connection with us.

The College which started it’s journey since 1665 after relocating few times in few Asian countries finally set foot in Penang in 1808. Being so rich in history, as a kid when I walked through walkway at the huge College General site at Kelawei Road, the buildings were like passage way of history. Seeing those huge arches made me think that the early seminarians were very tall. There wasn’t  info on the walls but the aura the building gave me was, of reminiscing the various people whom had walked in this seminary years ago minus the height fantasy I imagined as a kid. Even after College General was relocated to another site at Mariophille , the Chapel perched on a hill overlooking to the sea, just makes you sublime yourself to receive God's love.  

I am not a kid anymore as my age has risen up and with my size expanded horizontally over the years. The only thing that has receded is my hair line. As I was helping my mom getting down from the car, I remembered how she would make sure I would get down safely from the car when I was a kid. Gosh, time is indeed a fast moving entity when you start to see things in detail and retrospectively.

This would be my first time attending the celebration after ten years. When We reached the College, I saw a new batch of seminarians busy preparing for the mass. The mass would be celebrated outdoor at the College today. They had done a wonderful job of transforming the garden into a nice outdoor sanctuary to celebrate mass. The seminarians carried the same look on how I saw each seminarian would be preparing busily and seriousness during the College Feast day. In a few years they would be priests and another batch of students would be busy preparing. Amongst them the physically towering Father Gerard was making sure everything was in order.

The Wonderful Garden Setting for the Mass at College General

The various hymns and prayers in the mass just as always enriched my soul. It was truly a meaningful feast day for me. Right behind me where I played the organ were the statues of the martyrs, when I looked at them, I am glad that in a fast paced world where today’s advanced technology becomes tomorrow’s obsolete technology, we are gathered at the College grounds remembering and appreciating something that happened more than a century ago. As for me it's a privilege of participating in a yearly celebration at College General on the selfless dedication of the College General martyrs in giving up their life for Christ. Their actions were not obsolete by today’s standard but absolute for us to remember , so that we get the zest to treasure God’s love and to share it with others just like how they did.

As the mass ended followed by fellowship , I couldn’t help seeing the bigger picture of the Seminary being a passage way for all of us to pass through in life. While we wouldn’t be around for eternity , College General will be there as a passage way for the next round of mortals who would be sheltered for vocation and enlightened for years to come. And like the specks of light bursting through the seams of the puffed clouds  that evening during mass , we are little specks of light illuminating the passage way walking in faith and lighting each other.

Note: The life of the College Martyrs can be found in the link  below

http://www.rc.net/malaysia/collegegeneral/CGMartyr.htm