Molo celebrates religious fiesta
Expect heavy traffic as the district of Molo celebrates today their district fiesta in honor of Saint Anne and Saint Joachim. The theme for today's fiesta is Saint Joachim and Saint Anne: Models of Sanctity in the Family.
The concelebrated mass will be held at 9:30 in the morning with Most Rev. Romeo Lazo, DD/Bishop of Aklan as the main celebrant. There will be eight masses today in honor of the Saint Anne and Saint Joachim. The masses will be at 5:00 am, 6:30 am, 8:00 am, 5:00 pm and 6:00 in the evening.
Rev. Fr. Tomas Delicana, parish priest leads the procession at 4 am. The procession is moved at dawn to make it solemn and so that it could not affect the traffic in the afternoon.
For Catholics, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim are parents of Blessed Virgin Mary. They are also called as grandparents of Jesus Christ. Saint Joachim and Saint Anne have several virtues worthy to be emulated. They bear all the pain and insults for not having a child. For more than 20 years, the couple was childless until they were blessed with a child which they named Mary.
A nine-day novena in honor of the Saint Anne was held before the fiesta. The novena masses were sponsored by the 18 barangays of Molo, commercial establishments and different organizations in Molo.
The Molo church is also dedicated in honor of St. Anne. The image of St. Anne where she teaches the Blessed Virgin Mary in reading the Holy Scripture can be found in the main altar of the church. The Molo church is the only Gothic church in the entire country built outside Manila.
In the church, images of 16 female saints lined in two rows of the inside the church. Each saint is attached to the stone pillar with Gothic style canopy. The saints were St. Marcela, St. Apolonia, St. Genoveva, St. Isabel, St. Felicia, St. Ines, St. Monica, St. Magdalene, St. Juliana, St. Lucia, St. Rose de Lima, St. Teresa, St. Clara, St. Cecilia St. Margarita and St. Martha.
The presence of uniformed and plain clothes policemen are expected in the church and in the plaza to secure all the church goers and visitors. Cops will also be deployed to maintain peace and order and avoid untoward incidents.