Blessed Sacrament Church
Know About Blessed Sacrament Church Singapore
A Catholic church called The Blessed Sacrament Church is situated on Queensway, facing Commonwealth Drive. It is referred to as the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, serves the local Catholic community of Queenstown, and gets formally opened in 1965. The Urban Redevelopment Authority granted conservation protection to the Blessed Sacrament Church Edifice in 2005.
History
Everything started in 1958.
Father William van Soest and Father Odo Tiggeloven of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Dutch Province) were dispatched to Singapore to plan, construct, and serve a future parish in Queenstown at the request of the former archbishop, Mgr. Michael Olcomendy. To honor the priceless Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Sacrament Church was to be built by Fr. van Soest, who would later become our parish priest.
1958-1963 Initial Years
Fr. van Soest and Fr. Odo shared a residence at St. Patrick’s with the Brothers because they had nowhere else to stay. As only a Small portion of Queenstown developed at the time, the early going was particularly difficult for our priests. The church had to be erected in phases because preparation and fundraising proved to be a significant undertaking. Before the project gets finally finished, it took years.
Damien Hall gets finished as of October 1963.
The two priests were overjoyed to have their very own chambers when Damien Hall was finished and put to use for worship. One used the kitchen area, and the other the prayer room.
1965 Opened to the Public formally
The seven-year construction project came to a close in 1964 with the completion of the priest’s residence. And in 1965, the Public was allowed to see our lovely church. The church, built by Y.G. Dowsett, was given an eye-catching blue tent-shaped roof and other inventive architectural characteristics helping it stand out as a significant landmark in Queenstown.
1975 – 1982 the Church expansion
Although the church was heavily indebted when Fr. de Bruin succeeded Fr. van Soest in 1967, thanks to the growing parishioner base, the debts get eventually settled by 1975. For expanding operations, they built Damien Centre in 1982.
2006: New Growth Seeds and Rebuilding
Damien Hall was renovated in 2006 to satisfy our kindergarten’s demands and the expanding activities of the various parish organizations and church missions. And Msgr. Eugene Vaz formally opened the brand-new Fr. Damien Centre in September 2007.
Church building architecture
The church’s slate roof is the structure’s most distinctive feature, folded to simulate the tent shape and designed by Van Sitteren and Partners’ Y. Gordon Dowsett.
The main sanctuary gets covered with a ceiling representing the “tent of assembly” described in the Bible Old Testament and is shaped like a cross. There are integrated glass panels that provide natural light into the sanctuary where the four points of the cruciform meet on the roof. The worship space has fair-faced brick walls and timber ceiling panels, and the main altar’s outside brick face wall is decorated with a Celtic cross (a cross with a ring in the center). The Urban Redevelopment Authority granted the church conservation status on November 25, 2005, recognizing that its distinctive design and prominent placement along Commonwealth Drive make it a notable landmark.
