PREPARATIONS for the annual Feast of St Anne have begun.
This year’s celebration marks the first since the Church of St Anne was solemnly declared as a Minor Basilica on Jan 9 this year (2023). Despite being granted the title by the Holy See on Sept 5, 2019, worshippers from all walks of life had to wait until Jan 9, 2023, to witness the rare and historic moment due to Covid-19 restrictions that were imposed earlier.
Deacon Lazarus Jonathan said the Feast of St Anne, themed ‘Salt of the Earth, Light of the World’, would be celebrated from July 21 to 30.
“Preparation works have started since July 1 and different ministries are preparing for the 10-day celebration.
“A gotong-royong will be held at the Minor Basilica from 8am to noon on July 8 in preparation for the feast day. The gotong-royong is open to everyone,” he told Buletin Mutiara at the Minor Basilica of St Anne, Bukit Mertajam yesterday. St Anne is the mother of the Virgin Mary and a grandparent to Jesus Christ.
Deacon Lazarus said he was pleasantly surprised and grateful that some 1,560 people have volunteered to assist in this year’s 10-day celebration.
“The volunteers are helping in various ministries, such as the mass liturgy, firefighting, medical team, multimedia, meals for pilgrims, and others.
“Free food will be served at the Dewan St Anne throughout the 10 days. The food is donated by the people, and we will do our best to provide three meals a day when food is available,” he said.
Deacon Lazarus said the Minor Basilica expects some 100,000 people (mostly from Southeast Asia) to visit the Minor Basilica of St Anne throughout the 10 days.
“An average of five masses in different languages will be held each day throughout the 10 days of celebration.
“The highlight of the Feast of St Anne is on July 29, where a multi-lingual open-air mass will be held at 7pm; followed by a procession at about 8.30pm.
“The procession will be passing Jalan Kulim, Jalan Kampung Baru, Jalan Berjaya, and Jalan Maju before heading back to Jalan Kulim, and returning to the Minor Basilica. It is slightly over 1km.
“A spiritual concert by the youths of the parish will also be held at the Green Hall of the Minor Basilica at about 10pm on July 29,” he said.
Speaking about the theme for this year’s celebration, Deacon Lazarus said that for Christians, Jesus Christ is the salt and light of the world. Today he wants us Christians to be like him. Just as salt gives flavour to food and light gives brightness in darkness, Jesus is inviting us to be a blessing to all people, irrespective of race, religion or status.
“Many people are going through tough times due to various challenges. So ‘salt’ in the theme is akin to giving flavour and hope to the lives of the people around us.
“Similarly, when one has the ‘light’, he/she becomes a reflection of God and the person will recognise and uphold the rights and dignity of the other person.
“We hope to bring the people together. Religion should be used to unite the people, and it should move us to show respect for other people’s faith. Mutual respect should always be prevalent in today’s circumstances,” he said, adding that it is wonderful to see people of diverse beliefs gathering and through this feast showing respect for each other’s beliefs.
The Feast of St Anne has been known to receive thousands of visitors (Christians and non-Christians) daily, climaxing to more than that on the day of the procession and the open-air mass.
For more updates on the Feast of St Anne, visit the Facebook page of the Minor Basilica of St Anne.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis