en Church of St. Francis Xavier (Melaka)

Church of St. Francis Xavier
Gereja St. Francis Xavier (Malay)


Location	12 Jalan Banda Kaba Malacca
Country	Malaysia
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Tradition	Latin Rite
History
Dedication	Saint Francis Xavier
Architecture
Architectural type	church
Style	Neo-Gothic
Years built	1849
Completed	1856
Specifications
Number of spires	2
Administration
Parish	Malacca Vicariate Forane (under Roman Catholic Diocese of Malacca-Johor)

The Church of St. Francis Xavier (Malay: Gereja St. Francis Xavier) is a church in Malacca City, Malacca, Malaysia. It is the largest church in Melaka. It is also the third oldest church after St. Peter's Church (Melaka) and Christ Church, Malacca

History

The church was built in 1849 on the site of an old Portuguese Church of St Dominic by a French MEP priest, Father Farvé. Fr. Farvé was sent to as far as the South Americas to raise funds for the church in which was finally enough in 1956. The finishing touches of the building were completed in 1856 by Father Allard, with the present-day presbytery built in 1874.^[1]

The church's origins actually dated from 1845 but was not successful due to jurisdication issues with the Portuguese's St. Peter's Church (Melaka)

Architecture

The church is a twin-spired neo-gothic structure. It is believed that the church was modeled after the Cathedral of St. Peter in Montpellier, Southern France, which closely followed the older church’s original construction, except for a portico which was added on in 1963. ^[2] It's also the only neo-gothic structure in Malaysia and the MEP missionaries' largest church built at the time and is still the largest church in Melaka.

Features

Beneath the church is the tombs of 3 of the priests that served St Francis Xavier's church. The side windows are fitted with stained glass from the early 2000s with the earliest stained glass from the late 1800s placed above the altar depicting the life of St Francis Xavier, comissioned from Vietnam. The organ placed on the choir loft was donated in the early 1900s but has since been left in a state of disrepair. The church also appears to be tilted due to a WW2 bomb that exploded next to the right tower of the church. The church originally had one of the most spectacular high altars in the country but was dismantled in the later years and used for the current altar present.A statue of St Francis Xavier and Yajiro, one of his followers has been placed on the right of the church entrance as a donation from the catholics in Japan.

References

^ "St Francis Xavier's Church Malacca". Malacca. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
^ "St Francis Xavier's Church Melaka". Malacca by Hotels.com.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Church of St. Francis Xavier (Melaka).

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