The St. Anne Church of Bukit Mertajam can trace its beginning to 1833, when Chinese and Indian Catholics from Batu Kawan settled in the foothills of Bukit Mertajam. These people are peasants who had come to clear the land for cultivation. They were part of the congregation that had earlier settled at Batu Kawan in 1933. From there, the Catholics moved to Permatang Tinggi, Macang Bubok and Bukit Mertajam. The church was started by French missionaries from the Paris Foreign Missions Society that started their missionary work in the Far East as early as the 17th century. These missionaries visited Bukit Mertajam from Batu Kawan. There were already a congregation of 190 believers in those early days, farmers who are mostly Chinese Hakka and Indians. The chapel was named after St Anne because she was a popular saint among the French missionaries.
St. Anne is regarded as the mother of Mary, the virgin who gave birth to Jesus Christ. Catholics observe her feast day on 26 July every year. St. Anne is believed to have been born around 50BC in either Nazareth or Bethlehem. She is the patroness of cabinet makers and miners, as well as those engaged in the craft of spinning, weaving, embroidery, sewing and other such skills.
The very first Catholic church in Bukit Mertajam, a small chapel, was built on top of the hill, some time between 1840 and 1860. Today, the site of that small chapel is the 15th and final station of the Cross which devotees make in their pilgrimage.
As the congregation grew, another bigger chapel was built in 1865. The site of this second chapel is just behind the wall of taps of Saint Anne's water. The spring water is naturally filtered by the soil and is cleaner than tap water.
The iconic Old Church was built in 1888, under the leadership of Fr. F.P. Sorin. He died in 1907, right on the day of the St. Anne Feast, and was buried at the entrance to the Old Church. This "Old Church", now called the "Shrine of St Anne", is the main focus of the Feast of St Anne every year. It dates back to 1888. The beautiful stained glass above the altar dates to 1896.
In the aftermath of the Second World War in 1948, communist activities threatened the political stability of the then Malaya. The grounds of the church was deemed a prohibited area due to communist activities in the surrounding hills. Fearful that the Chinese community in Bukit Mertajam would be sympathetic to the Communist movement, the British Government relocated them to new villages. The Old Church, located in a "black area", where Communist activities was regarded as strong, became a prohibited area.
For a while, St Anne's church services were conducted at the Convent a distance away. In 1957, Father Thomas Chin had a church building erected to serve the relocated congregation. This new church (the fourth St Anne's Church) is located next to Kim Sen School, and served out the "Emergency" years. For the following 48 years, this was the "new St Anne's church".
In 1977, Father Peter Pang became the Parish prist of St Anne's church. He started the move back to the ground of the Old Church, buiding an altar shed in front of the Old Church. Further restoration was carried out, including the reinstallation of the stained glass and the church bell - there were originally two, but one of them was lost during the Japanese Occupation.
As the Feast of St Anne received increasing numbers of followers, it soon became necessary to construct a new church complex. The new church complex was begun in May 2000, and was dedicated on the St Anne's Feast Day of 26 July, 2002. This new church blends Minangkabau roof design with Gothic architecture to create one of the most imposing structures in Penang. The spacious interior has a seating capacity of 1800, easily making it the biggest church building in the northern region of Malaysia.
The year 2000 sees the latest, and biggest addition to the sanctuary, with the construction of the present church building, on the grounds just below the Old Church. The new building incorporates local elements such as multi-tiered Minangkabau roofing. Seen from the top, it has a floor plan of a cross. The new church was dedicated on the St. Anne Feast Day on 26 July 2002. From then on, the Old Church is called the Shrine of St Anne. It continues to be the focus point of the celebration of St. Anne Feast.
The St. Anne Feast of Bukit Mertajam is one of the 20 biggest Catholic pilgrimages in the world, drawing about 40,000 to 60,000 devotees each year. Within the grounds of St. Anne's Church is the ancient Hindu inscriptions of Cherok Tokun, called the Cherok Tokun Relics.
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