50,000 to attend procession
Colourful: Volunteers arranging flowers for the main float to be used during the indoor procession tonight at St Anne’s Shrine in Bukit Mertajam, Penang today.
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BUKIT MERTAJAM: The annual St Anne’s Novena and Feast celebration here will culminate with a procession at the St Anne’s church grounds tonight.
Church priest Rev Father Henry Rajoo said 40,000 to 50,000 people were expected at the procession, which would begin with an outdoor mass at 8pm.
“A float carrying the statues of St Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary decorated with flowers will go on the procession,” he said.
“A burning of petitions ceremony will be conducted after that,” he said at the church yesterday, adding that the event would end with a concert.
He urged pilgrims to keep the church compound clean. “There will be 150 rubbish bins placed within the grounds,” he added.
Fr Rajoo said there would be a mass at noon tomorrow, the last day of the 10-day celebration.
Two roads near the church will be closed from 2pm today until 6pm tomorrow.
They are the Jalan Kulim stretch from the Caltex station at the Jalan Kg Baru junction to the Taman Bandaraya traffic lights at the Jalan Sepakat junction, and the road in Taman Tenang, which links Jalan Sepakat and Jalan Kulim.
Motorists from Bukit Mertajam heading to Kulim will be diverted to Jalan Kg Baru while those coming from Kulim will be directed to Jalan Sepakat and Jalan Muhibbah.
St Anne’s feast is celebrated by Catholics to honour Jesus Christ’s grandmother St Anne. This year’s celebration is themed “Called, Chosen, Sent”.
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