St Anne's Church
St. Anne's Sanctuary of Bukit Mertajam, Penang
The Old Church of the St Anne Sanctuary, Bukit Mertajam
The St. Anne Church of Bukit Mertajam can be traced back to the 1840s, when Chinese and Indian Catholics from Batu Kawan settled in the foothills of Bukit Mertajam. They were part of the congregation that had earlier settled at Batu Kawan in 1933. The church was started by French missionaries. There werer already a congregation of 190 believers in those early days. The very first church, a small chapel, was built on top of the hill, some time between 1840 and 1860. As the congregation grew, another bigger chapel was built in 1865. The present 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.
St. Anne is regarded as the mother of Mary, the virgin who gave birth to Lord 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.
In 1957, during the Emergency period, another church building was constructed. 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, and the new church was built next to Kim Sen School. For the following 48 years, this was the "new St Anne's church".
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. 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.
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