Jul 30 2007
St Anne feast
By DERRICK VINESH, with Photos by ASRI ABDUL GHANI
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Seeking blessings: Pilgrims seeeking help from St Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Shrine of St Anne in Bukit Mertajam on Saturday night.
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Ng: Recovered after being in coma for 10 days.
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IN July 1998, Charles Ng Chin Teong from Bukit Mertajam was diagnosed with septicaemia that left him in a coma.
His wife Irene Giam and children Nicholas, Jennifer and Christine sought the help of St Anne, the maternal grandmother of Jesus Christ, to intercede with God to save his life.
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Grand procession: Volunteers carrying the statues of St Anne and Blessed Virgin Mary in the candlelight procession.
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Ng recovered after being in a coma for 10 days. Since then, the family has been attending masses regularly at the St Anne’s Church in Bukit Mertajam.
On Saturday night, they joined tens of thousands of local and foreign pilgrims in a grand candlelight procession in the church grounds in conjunction with the annual St Anne’s Feast.
About 100,000 pilgrims converged on the church grounds throughout the 10-day festival that began on July 20.
The 45-minute long candlelight procession, which was the highlight of the festival, went on smoothly.
The church bells tolled for about a minute after the statues of St Anne and her daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, were brought to the church foyer to be crowned.
The statues were placed on a platform that was shouldered by 10 volunteers using two long poles.
Heading the main procession group were a cross bearer, altar boys, who carried ornamental candles, flag bearers, bunga manggar bearers and flower girls who carried candlesticks and sprinkled flower petals on the ground.
Penang Catholic church bishop Rev Antony Selvanayagam, who earlier celebrated mass at the church, and several other priests led the pilgrims behind the statue bearers.
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Thanksgiving: Pilgrims offering candles at the Shrine of St Anne.
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At the old St Anne’s church, now known as Shrine of St Anne, thousands of pilgrims offered lit candles, flowers, flower garlands and prayers to St Anne.
They also did the same at the different stations on St Anne’s Hill and collected Holy Water in containers from a water station nearby.
M. Stella Mary, 31, from Shah Alam, Selangor, said she came with 30 family members in two vans for the festival.
“About two weeks ago, my family ran into some financial problems. We prayed to St Anne and she interceded to help us overcome it. We plan to donate some food to the poor in thanksgiving,” she said.
R. Michael Julian, 72, from Kuala Lumpur said his passion for religious articles drove him to sell rosaries, crosses and statues at the festival in the last 25 years.
The church’s gift shop also sold Vietnam-made woodcarvings of the Holy Family to raise funds for its children’s library and resource centre.
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