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Epilogue
In this book we collected as much information as possible about the procession of Good Friday in Senglea for the benefit of those who would like to have it in one publication. Apart from that we wanted to show that in our city, since its first years as parish, there was always great devotion towards the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, thanks to the hard work of the Fraternity of Charity and later on to the Fraternity of the Crucifix. This devotion finds its focal point in the miraculous image of Jesus the Redeemer. This devotion, spread also to all parts of the Maltese Islands and even to foreign lands where people from Senglea and from other locations in Malta migrated to. This devotion makes of Senglea’s church a real active national sanctuary.
All this would be in vain unless we really realise what we are commemorating during Holy Week unless we ponder carefully on what the statue of the Redeemer really stands for. What follow is that we have to do our part …. naturally with His help.
When we assist and take part in the liturgical functions and in the procession of Good Friday, we must be prepared not only to feel sorry for what Christ went through but also accept the messages He gives us during these religious occasions. He Himself said: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself. (John 12, 32). It now depends on us not to let these occasions pass us by with us just spectators watching the going the procession going through our streets. We should have an open heart and mind so that once we have been attracted towards Him on the Cross, we keep Him alive in our lives and let His message leads us on.
In this way all that been sowed by our forefathers and which is so popularly expressed today during Holy Week will benefit us all through our lives. We have therefore to do our utmost so that the Salvation won for us on the Cross will, with His help, be for us a benefit both during this life on earth and life ever after. We look at Him and pray that just as His death destroyed our death, just the same we can rise again with Him for a better life.
Dates related to the history covered in these chapters
1581: The new church of St Mary of Victory was elevated to the status of parish and came out of the parish of St Lawrence of Vittoriosa. This church was built on the design of the Maltese Engineer Vittorio Cassar as a ‘Monument of the victory obtained in the Great Siege’. The Church was dedicated to the birth of Our Lady because on its feast day, 8th September, the Maltese won a decisive and famous victory against the Turks who invaded Malta in 1565.
1615: The first two Fraternities in Senglea were dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Lady of the Rosary. The third one was dedicated to Our Lady of Charity. This fraternity was set up with the principal aim of preserving human dignity and help in the social needs of the people of Senglea. At the same time a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Charity was built. The Fraternity of Charity was affiliated with the Arch Fraternity of Charity Rome.
1640: 10th March: The Society of the Agonized was set up. The main aim of this society was to say prayers for its members during their point of death. For some time the procession of Good Friday was organised jointly by the Fraternity of Charity and the Society of the Agonized.
1650: The Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception was set up. This fraternity owned the statue of the Risen Christ and used to organise a procession with this statue on Easter Sunday.
1653: 12th October: During a pastoral visit held by Bishop Gwanni Mikiel Balaguer he praised the charitable acts being carried out by the Fraternity of Charity.
1710: The Fraternity of Charity chose the 3rd May as the day when to celebrate its feast. This day is the liturgical day which celebrates the day the Holy Cross was found. The fraternity started to celebrate the feast of the Holy Cross on this day.
1714: The statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer arrived in Senglea. It was going to be a source of great devotion.
1714: For some time the Passion procession, with a number of statues, used to be held on Maundy Thursday. The procession with the statue of the Risen Christ used to bring the celebrations of the Holy Week to an end.
1715: 18th September: When the time of Parish Priest Dun Mikiel Testaferrata was coming to an end, a new fraternity, called the Fraternity of the Crucifix was set up. This new fraternity took over all the obligations of the Fraternity of Charity, which had nearly stopped functioning. The main social and Christian aim of the new fraternity was to take care of the funerals and burials of the poor and pray for the repose of their souls.
1725: 30th August; by official degree the altar of Our Lady of Charity passed in the hands of the Fraternity of the Crucifix. The new fraternity adorned the altar with a large painting of Our Lady of Sorrows which was painted by Corrado Gianquinto.
1731: Work on the Oratory of the Crucifix was taken in hand. The land on which this Oratory was built was given to the fraternity by the Bailiff of the Order, the Chevalier Emmanuel Pinto. The engineer in charge of works was Klawdju Duranti; the master mason was Francesco Zerafa and the sculptor was Pietro Paolo Zahra. Francesco Zahra took care of the paintings.
1742: The Fraternity of the Crucifix bought a house in Bastion Street which was demolished and in its place a large sacristy was built at the back of the Oratory. In this sacristy, the statues used for the procession of Good Friday, were put in specially built niches.
1751: By a degree issued by Pope Benedict XIV permission was given for an altar to be built in front of the niche of Jesus Christ the Redeemer so that Mass could be celebrated there.
1763: The Grand Master Emmanuel Pinto became a member of the Fraternity of the Crucifix and he was made Prefect of the Fraternity for nine years.
1773: 15th April: The Fraternity of the Crucifix was affiliated to the Arch Fraternity of the Crucifix which is based in the church of Sam Marcell in Rome.
1783: 11th December: Following a pastoral visit by Bishop Vincenzo Labini he ordered that all the relics spread out all over the church should be collected and put up on the main altar of the Oratory of the Crucifix.
1786: 21st May: Pope Pius VI by his degree ‘Exigit Apostolici Officii’ he elevated the parish of Senglea to Collegiate.
1788: The remains of St Vittorio Martyr were brought over from Rome and placed for veneration in the main altar of the Oratory of the Crucifix.
1802: A well to do family from Senglea gave the parish church a statue of Ecce Homo (Jesus crowned with thorns) as thanksgiving for Malta’s liberation from the blockade of the French.
1813: Malta was hit by a terrible plague. The people of Senglea made a vow that if Senglea be free from this plague, each year, they would make a pilgrimage with the statues of Jesus Christ the Redeemer, Our Lady of Victories and St Roque. Senglea stayed free from the plague and kept its promise of holding these pilgrimages. 1814: In appreciation for the social work being carried out by the Fraternity of the Crucifix, it was entrusted with the administration of St Anne’s Home – an old people’s home. This home was set up by benefactors from Senglea, namely Nikola Dingli and his wife Madalena Cornelio. As time went by, the administration of this home became the main and only social activity of the fraternity.
1814: 15th May: As thanksgiving for the fact that Senglea was not hit by the plague, a pilgrimage was held with the statues of Our Lady of Victory and of Jesus Christ the Redeemer, throughout the streets of Cottonera.
1830: Pope Pius VII accepted a petition in that every time the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer is put up in the church, an altar could be placed in front of the statue and Mass could be said there too.
1848: Senglea started to celebrate the feast of the Via Sagra (Holy Way) on the second Sunday of Lent.
1879: 20th March: The Arch Bishop Carmelo Scicluna decreed that the Passion procession should be held on Good Friday.
1879: 13th April: The statue of the Risen Christ was involved in some accident and the procession was stopped for a good number of years.
1883: It was finally decided that the procession with the statues connected with the Passion of Our Lord be held on Good Friday not Maundy Thursday.
1921: 3rd January: Pope Benedict XV by his degree Ad Perennandam Memoriam, the Collegiate of Senglea was elevated to the state of Minor Basilica.
1921: Karmnu Mallia made, in papier mache, the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows.
1921: 4th September: The Arch Bishop Dom Mauro Caruana solemnly crowned the statue of Marija Bambina in Senglea’s marina.
1942: In April, the Oratory was extensively damaged by bombs which fell down during air raids during World War II. The sacristy was completely destroyed. The roof caved in and the debris which fell was too heavy for the floor of the Oratory which caved in and buried most of the basement.
1944: Even though the war was not over yet, after a lapse of five years, the procession of Good Friday was held again in Senglea albeit only with the statue of the sepulchre.
1944: 9th July: The statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer was brought back to Senglea. During the war it was taken to Birkirkara for safekeeping.
1947: Works on the reconstruction of the Oratory was completed and the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer could be put back in its niche.
1956: 30th March: It was the first time that the procession of Good Friday came out of the newly reconstructed church, even though it was still not being used for religious functions.
1957: 24th August: Arch Bishop Michael Gonzi consecrated the newly reconstructed church.
1969: 6th April: After a lapse of ninety years the procession with the statue of the Risen Christ started to be held once again.
1974: 7th April: As part of the celebrations of the Holy Year as decreed by Pope Paul VI, the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer was taken to the Independence Arena, Floriana, where the Holy Way was said.
1975: Biblical personages were introduced for the first time in the procession of Good Friday.
1980: As from this year, a pilgrimage with the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer started to be held on the fourth Friday of Lent.
1982: 2nd October: As part of the preparation for the Holy Year of Redemption, initiated by Pope John Paul II, a pilgrimage through the streets of Cottonera was held with the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer.
1983: 20th March: As part of the celebrations of the Holy Year of Redemption, the station of Jesus Christ the Redeemer was taken in pilgrimage to Valletta.
1987: St Anne’s Home was inaugurated after it has been demolished and rebuilt on modern lines.
1998: 8th April: Following a request by the Drydocks Council and with the approval of the Arch Bishop’s Curia the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer was taken in pilgrimage to the Drydocks. The pilgrimage took the form of the Holy Way.
1999: 7th June: On the occasion of the Year of the Aged, the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer was taken in pilgrimage to the main residential home for the aged, St Vincent de Paule Hospital. |