The journey to St Anne’s Church is a family tradition for many pilgrims
BUKIT MERTAJAM: After giving birth to her first child at the age of 22, office executive A. Santamary hoped to have another child.
However, despite several attempts, she was unable to conceive and turned to St Anne’s Church to pray for another baby.
After making an annual pilgrimage to the church, renowned among devotees praying for children, for a decade, Santamary was finally blessed with a baby boy.
She has continued returning to the church to seek blessings and express gratitude.
“My son was often ill when he was young. I prayed to Mother Mary for his health and today he is healthy.
“Every time I see him doing well, I am reminded of those prayers and remain grateful for the blessing we received,” said the 49-year-old mother from Sungai Bakap.
Santamary, whose daughter is now 27 and son 17, said she and her family attended prayers at the church for three consecutive days this year.
For technician T. Sathiya, 37, the annual pilgrimage to the church has become a cherished family tradition.
The Kulim resident said he came to offer prayers of thanksgiving.
“We come every year because we are grateful for the blessings our family has received.
“It has become an important annual event for us,” he said.
Sathiya said the pilgrimage has allowed his family to deepen their faith while spending quality time together alongside thousands of devotees during the celebration.
The Feast of St Anne is observed annually on July 26 to honour St Anne, the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ.
A procession on Saturday night marked the highlight of the 10-day celebration at St Anne’s Church here, which was founded in 1846.
In 2019, Pope Francis granted the church the title of Minor Basilica.
More than 25,000 pilgrims took part in this year’s 1.6km procession, which passed through Jalan Kulim, Jalan Kampung Baru and Jalan Berjaya before returning to the church.
The procession featured a float carrying statues of St Anne and Mary, with devotees walking alongside while holding candles.
Meanwhile, Rev Deacon Lazarus Anthony Jonathan described the favourable weather this year as a blessing, allowing the procession to proceed smoothly.
“It had rained earlier but it truly felt like a miracle that we were blessed with fine weather for the procession,” he said after the morning Mass celebrated by Bishop Bernard Paul.
Thousands of pilgrims from across the country gathered at the church grounds to attend Masses conducted in multiple languages from 9am to 5pm yesterday.
Deacon Lazarus estimated that more than 100,000 pilgrims from Malaysia and abroad attended the 10-day celebration.
