St. Anne’s Shrine Bukit Mertajam.
St. Anne’s Feast Day falls on July 26. The celebration usually begins well before that. Wuan and I were fortunate that we made the trip back to Penang just as the celebration began. We went to the Church of St. Anne in Bukit Mertajam on Sunday with my two maternal aunts. These two plucky septuagenarians are my mother’s younger sisters. Most of the relatives on my mother’s side are Roman Catholics.
Statue of St. Anne with a young Mary inside St. Anne Shrine Bukit Mertajam.
Photo by Wuan.
The church compound was not crowded. It was very hot though. It had rained a while before we arrived. With little cloud cover, the sun bore down hard on us. I had gone up to the shrine two years ago for the first time since using a wheelchair when Bryan and Reallybites went with us. It is a long steep path from level ground.
The Ten Commandments carved into a rock near St. Anne’s Shrine Bukit Mertajam.
Photo by Wuan.
It would take a lot of effort for Wuan to push me up. So we gave going up to the shrine a pass. Instead, we checked out the makeshift stalls set up at the car park to sell candles, flowers, statues, religious items, books, and snacks and drinks. My aunts bought a box of candles each and slowly limped their way up the granite steps to pay homage to St. Anne inside the shrine. Wuan and I browsed through the books at the Daughters of Pauline stall.
Fifteenth Station of The Cross – The Resurrection of Jesus – beside St. Anne’s Shrine Bukit Mertajam.
Photo by Wuan.
I got myself the Saint Joseph Personal Size Edition of The New American Bible and a PVC cover to protect it. I have been looking for one that I can take with me whenever I travel. We also bought a few Rosaries. Among them were two rose scented Rosaries for Wuan’s parents who were baptized earlier this year on Easter. After that, Wuan took the camera and went traipsing around while I took shelter beneath the shadow of the stalls and observed the activities of the growing crowd as the sun began to set.
