The feast of St Anne will be celebrated in Dwejra, San Lawrenz, tomorrow.

Masses will be said at 6am, 10, noon, 5 and 7pm.

Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma will celebrate Mass, assisted by Fr Gabriel Micallef, at the chapel of Villa San Lawrenz, a diocesan residential home for the elderly, at 4pm.

Works on the Dwejra chapel, dedicated to St Anne, started in 1963 and were finished in July of the same year.

The plans were drawn by architect Joe Mizzi and the master builder was Wenzu Formosa, ex-sacristan of the parish church of San Lawrenz.

All expenses were paid by Salesian Alwiġ Mizzi. The chapel was blessed by Gozo Bishop Giuseppe Pace on July 25, 1963, eve of the saint’s liturgical feast.

Special festivities are held every year in honour of St Anne on July 25 and 26.

The chapel’s rector, Fr Charles Sultana, who is also the parish priest of San Lawrenz, says the Dwejra chapel is testimony of St Anne’s respect towards life, from the beginning to end.

He says that she is a testament to the divine and unique role of women, specifically as wives and mothers; and that she was no ordinary woman ‒ by virtue of being faithful, she became extraordinary.

St Anne is the patron saint of grandparents, mothers, married couples and the infertile.

Every year, the rector receives hundreds of letters from devotees asking for the saint’s intercession. It is a great pleasure to see people coming over to thank St Anne for giving birth, Fr Sultana says.