.st anne in penang.

i received a call at 11.00 am today. the sound of my mother....

"wei, you going to st anne or not? can come back or not or you want us to pray for you?"

wow, it's been a year since the last st.anne's festival. the last year, i think i went to put candles and wait in a freaking long line. i went almost every year. i remember that there was once that i had to go with my family. i remembered the steps going up the place being longer and each step being harder. well, that ws my first experience. it was always crowded with people.

last year, i noticed that the steps are shorter, the stairs are shorter and the candles don't seem so intimidating anymore.

maybe it was because i always had my dad to hold the candles for me last time. to push the crowd for me. now i have to do it myself. and i have to be the one leading the way for mom.

but this year, mom is going alone? with bro and my sis i hope.

this celebration held in the end of july every year is the almost only christian event that i go to. mostly because i made a vow. in dire times of need i made a vow. that i would go every year.

now, it's been 4 or 6 years since that vow. i can't realy remember.

but i can remember the place as if i went there yesterday.

the church has a big cross on top, shining during st. anne's fest. thousands of people thronge the place with large long candles. sometimes, they can be an insensitive biatch. they let the hot heated slimy wax drop down on other people. damn.. hurts you know! cheebet!

i also remember the long lines of beggars holding up their cups and sometimes their shirts for donations. believe me, there are hundreds there. my dad used to keep 20 cent coins in different boxes one time and i always wondered what they were over. come st. anne's he gave half of them to me and another half, he hold them himself. he then proceeded to donate 20 cents to every beggar there and asked me to do the same. when i asked why? he said that when i was lying on the hospital bed he made a decision and prayed. he vowed to donate 20 cents to every beggar during st. anne's fest. i need to donate 50 cents myself to every beggar when i'm 24 (it was one of the vows too) but this time, the only difference is, i might just need to do it myself.

well, i won't be going this year but i hope to be praying in my heart when that day comes and ask for forgiveness.

p/s: i'm not a christian. and it doesn't hurt to pray as long as we're sincere. that's what i always think. i even went into an indian temple to pray before. so what i'm saying is, it doesn't hurt to join the fun of lighting candles, queing long lines, getting torched by wax and running up long winding stairs.

beats sitting in your house watchin football, csi, one tree hill, friends (insert any movie name here) and dozing off.

THOUSANDS of devotees will celebrate St Anne’s Feast this weekend with prayers, novenas, confession and mass in two churches, one in Bukit Mertajam and the other in Port Klang.

While the Church of St Anne in Bukit Mertajam is expected to receive more than 100,000 pilgrims, the church in Port Klang will see some 25,000 attending prayers and paying homage to the grandmother of Jesus Christ.

Parish priest of Port Klang’s Church of St Anne, Father V.A. Michael, says those expected to turn up for the feast will include Catholics and non-Christians from this region and from as far away as Australia and New Zealand. He estimates some 50 per cent to be non-Christians.

“St Anne’s Feast is celebrated on a large scale here because in Asia there are only two churches dedicated to this saint. Every year, the crowd grows bigger.

“Many are here to fulfil their vows either by lighting candles, offering prayers and flowers or serving food. St Anne is the patron saint of those praying for children and spouses,” he says.
- source

- picture courtesy of google archive from thestar.

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events
July 29, 2005
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Haha I used to go there with my family.
Jimmy Ang said…
well, they are nutilizing the event to make extra money.

those stalls along the road can be annoying, i know but at the same time, they are vey interesting too.

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