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St. Anne's Feast, Malaysia
Viveca Pragassam
Its past midnight and I have just returned from the Church of St Anne in the town of Bukit Mertajam in the State of Penang , which is a sort of
pilgrimage place here in Malaysia. The quaint old church is situated atop a
hillock with a sprawling compound (about 28 km from my home) where Catholics celebrate the Feast with a nine day Novena to St Anne and it
culminates with a candle light procession at night which makes a circle around the compound .People coming from afar camp in the compound for days
during the 9 day Novena.
Now, you must be thinking - so what !! Well, this is a Muslim country Catholics are being very subtly suppressed - will expand on that topic
another day - and here is a place of pilgrimage where people of all races and creeds come - Indonesia,
Phillipines, Thailand and
Singapore gather here bearing flowers and candles especially on the last day to fulfill vows made
or favours obtained. Here St. Anne doesn't only find you a young man ! This
celebration is a miracle in itself.
Masses in Chinese, Malay, Thai, Tamil, and English are offered for packed and
overflowing old and new churches. It is indeed amazing to discover that there are such a varied flock of devoted pilgrims and this makes me feel a
little ashamed that being so near I have only been there 3 times in all my
years here. Petitions for children, jobs, healing, and cures have been said
to be granted . This time it was special because a Relic of St. Anne had just been brought from Rome .
The parishioners put up food stalls to provide a service and raise money which goes to the various groups and the Church building fund. The Guides
and Boy Scouts as as traffic wardens and youth from the Red Crescent ( no not Cross ) Society are on standby.
So, folks who tend to take these kinda things for granted - take note,
count your blessings , and appreciate what you have. Here we don't even have
enough priests to go around , and there are parishes that have Mass once a
month , and if you are planning to get a ticket to heaven make sure the priest is around , or the
Sacristan will sprinkle you and return you to your Maker.
Another place of pilgrimage is St. Jude's near Kuala Lumpur. Hope you found this a little interesting .
Bless ya.
Viveca