Thursday, September 23, 2010

Hanging Jesus

It was at Batu Kawan, as early as 1833 that Catholics first originated in Province Wellesley. They were mainly Chinese and Indian. It was from here that the Catholics gradually moved to Permatang Tinggi, Macang Bubok and Bukit Mertajam. By 1840, the Chinese Catholics started settling down at the Bukit Mertajam foothill.

The early priests were all Frenchmen and they visited Bukit Mertajam from Batu Kawan. In 1846, the first visiting priest, Fr. Adolphe Couellan decided that there was a need for a chapel and built one just below where now stands the hill top St. Anne's statue.St. Anne was (and still is) a very popular patron saint amongst the French. Naturally, the chapel was named after her.

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