Feast Day of Saints Joachim and Anne Celebration on July 26, 2022

Commemorative rites and holy masses will be celebrated Tuesday, July 26, at the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Anne in Taguig City, in solemn observance of the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne (San Joaquin and Santa Ana), venerated as the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus Christ.

The yearly St Anne’s Feast day celebration in the Minor Basilica of St Ann, Bukit Mertajam set to reopen following two years of the virtual celebration.

The yearly St Anne’s Feast day celebration is prepared to invite back all pilgrims for feast celebrations this year beginning July 22.

The feast day celebration in the Minor Basilica of St Ann, Bukit Mertajam, has turned into a tourist attraction as one of the country’s biggest religious celebrations.

In excess of 100,000 individuals are supposed to go to the feast day celebration.

The theme during the current year’s feast is salt of the Earth & Light of the World’.

Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara will lead the Pontifical Mass at 9:30 a.m. Holy masses will likewise be presented at 5 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 8 a.m., 3 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 6 p.m.

A mass baptism will be held at 11 a.m. A fluvial procession will be held at 1 p.m. with the blessing of fishers and their fishing vessels.

Novena masses were held from July 17 to 25.

This year points to the 435th anniversary of St. Anne’s establishment as the city’s patron saint.

Coronavirus safety measure

The current year’s festival is supposed to be greater than the most recent two years when the church scaled it because of the Covid-19 pandemic, said church deacon, Rev Lazarus Anthony Jonathan.

“Mass will be held indoors and outdoors, and there will still be some Covid-19 standard operating procedures to adhere to.

“It will be compulsory to have face masks on indoors, and we encourage everyone to keep them on while outdoors as it will be crowded,” he said.

The St Anne’s Feast procession

The feast will culminate with a multilingual mass at 7 pm, trailed by the procession at 8.30 pm on July 30.

The statue of St Anne and her daughter, Mother Mary, will be carried in a wooden palanquin by volunteers in a six-kilometer procession joined by thousands of pilgrims on July 30.

The procession has been a tradition, and a huge event in Bukit Mertajam as it passes by a few significant streets.

“We hope it will spread a message of hope to the people after the pandemic,” he said.

The pilgrims came from everywhere in the country, and many came from different countries like Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia Myanmar.

St Anne, the grandma of Jesus, is perhaps of the most venerated saints. She has been known as an intercessor of healing, particularly with marriage and family.