St. Anne’s Feast

We made a 2 day trip to Bukit Mertajam for the St. Anne’s Feast this year. We left at about 8.45 a.m. on Saturday. All together, there were 3 cars; 9 adults and 6 children.

It was Champion’s 2nd time, while it was lil’ President’s 1st time attending the feast. We brought Champion for the feast the year he was born. As lil’ President was only about 2 months old, we only attended the feast at the St. Anne’s church in Port Klang. As for me, it was my 3rd time attending the feast.

We checked in the hotel in Butterworth around noon. After lunch, everybody had a short nap before we left to BM for the 7.30 p.m. mass.

I was so crowded. We managed ourselves through the crowd to get to the field in front of the new church. We waited there for a while the ‘drivers’ parked the cars.

Side view of the new church

While we were waiting, we spotted a rainbow at the back of the old church.. just a small stretch though. The kids kept themselves amazed with the amount of helium balloons flying in the air… like kites. Every few seconds there was a balloon flying off into the sky.

Rainbow at the back of the old church

As the mass inside the church ended, we headed to the church entrance. Only then we realised we got the mass time wrong. The next mass was at 8.30 p.m. As we didn’t want to wait too long, we headed for the 7.30 p.m. Tamil mass held at the hall across the road. Unfortunately, it was very crowded as well. We only managed to linger in the ground outside the hall. We were worried the kids would get cranky amongst the crowd.

While we were there, we received a packet of rice with chicken.. an offering. Champion had a few mouthfuls while lil’ President was not very hungry.

I wanted to follow the procession at about 10.00 p.m. as I did in 2003 (my 1st time). But as we having the kids, it was very difficult to bring them along in between the crowd holding candles. So, we decided not to wait for it.

Nightime at the old church

Again, after the mass, we had to make ourselves out of the crowd. On our way, we did notice a few interesting stuffs sold at the stall. Due to the crowd, we decided to get it the next day. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel at about 11.15 p.m.

On Sunday, we prayed at the old church before heading to the new church for the Tamil mass at noon. I was guiding Champion to the altar while apps was carrying lil’ President. At the altar, Champion handed the flowers to the person in charge. Then, Champion tried to put the offering into the donation box by himself. As the gate was a bit high, it was tough for him. But he didn’t give up. He stretched his arms and managed to put the money in.

Then, we arrived at the St. Anne’s statue. I was dumbfounded when Champion, on his own, put his palms together and prayed.. After that he touched the statue and kissed his palm. All I could do was to follow suit.

After that, we washed our hands at the pipes of holy water and headed to the new church for the mass. After lunch, we left BM at about 2.45 p.m. Our entourage arrived at the Sungai Buloh rest area at 7.30 p.m. We had a drink before heading back home.

A little prayer for the 11 victims of the bus tragedy along the North-South Expressway which was heading to Bukit Mertajam for the St. Anne's feast.

Eternal rest given unto the souls O Lord,
May the perpetual light shine upon them.
May their sould rest in peace, Amen.