SENGLEA THROUGH THE AGES - 3 & 4
Nowadays there are various locations, in Malta and Gozo, which have close connections with the feast of Marija Bambina. The feast of Our Lady of Victories is not a feast held only in Senglea. But nowhere but in Senglea do you find the close connections with the title of this feast as given to it by our forefathers.
Historic links between Senglea and il-Vitorja (Victory)
Up to the great victory of our forefathers against the Turks in 1565, the feast of Marija Bambina was not known as il-Vitorja. But the 7th September 1565 was the last day of that terrible siege. During the Great Siege Fort St Michael went through a terrible ordeal. The defence offered by the Knight and the Maltese together there gave Senglea the title of ‘il-Belt li ma ntrebhitx’ (the unconquered city).
The historian Francesco Balbi in his diary couldn’t contain himself in showing his pride and love for Senglea when he wrote the following about the historical date of the 8th September 1565: I cannot imagine that our ears ever heard such fine melody as they provided by the church bells on that day. Their sound lifted our spirits. It’s the eight day of September, a day dedicated to the birth of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. For the last three months the bells remained silent … apart when they rang to give us warning of a new attack. But today they are ringing to tell us that a new dawn of great rejoicing is upon us.’
It was just and appropriate, that the new city of Senglea, should have a permanent memorial of this siege, a siege which will not be forgotten. The first parish church of Senglea was not the small church of St Julians as many erroneously believe, but it is the new church which was built as a monument of the victory obtained following the siege.
The building of this church was completed by the year 1580. The engineer in charge was either Glormu Cassar or his son Vittorio, but we do not have any documented evidence. On the façade of this church there is the Latin inscription MONUMENTUM INSIGNIS VICTORIAE MDLXV (a monument of the great victory 1565).
A church built as a monument of victory achieved on the day of the feast of Marija Bambina could not but be dedicated but to the birth of Our Lady. The church was elevated to the status of parish in 1581 and from its very first days it was always knows as Santa Marija tal-Vittorja (St Mary of Victory). As time went by the title became more colloquially known as Vittorja (Victory) and that is how it is now known all through the islands of Malta and Gozo. This cemented the very close connections there are between the commemoration of the birth of Our Lady and the celebration of the 1565 victory in the hearts and minds of the people – both celebrations became to mean one and the same thing.
Marija Bambina soon became the patron of our city. The small and artistic statue, which found its way to Senglea in mysterious circumstance in 1618, became the pride of every citizen of Senglea. This statue also attracted the admiration of whoever looks at her.
So, we are urged to look up to Our Lady and through her intercession we can obtain all the solace and help we need. Nobody has more power than Our Lady to intercede with Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of all of us.
SENGLEA THROUGH THE AGES - 4
First Christmas without the Bambina
How can the terrible day of the 16th January 1941 be ever forgotten? It was a very sad day, because Senglea suffered one of the harshest air attacks possible. The parish church and many houses were destroyed and twenty one persons killed. The statue of Marija Bambina was at the Basilica during the attack but came out unscathed; nonetheless the risks of it being damaged were very high. So during that month of January, the Archpriest Dun Manuel Brincat made arrangements to take the statue for safekeeping at the parish church of Birkirkara.
The Christmas of 1941 was one of the darkest ever in the history of our islands. It was a Christmas void of the many lights which can give us a cheer. It was a Christmas when the bells remained silent. It was a Christmas which for the majority of the citizens of Senglea was spent deep down in the shelters.
Notwithstanding all this it was not an uneventful monotonous period. Everybody was on tenterhooks when on the 24th December, on the day before Christmas, the sirens warned of impending air raid attacks not less than six times. The people of Senglea could not dare leave the shelters and go to midnight Mass as they used to do in normal circumstances. The midnight Mass was said at four in the afternoon so that no tale tell of any light could be seen in the darkness of the night.
There was no respite from the air attacks not even on Christmas day, when our islands had to endure no less that five attacks. Our fathers did not get up from bed joyfully to go to midnight Mass, but full of fear and anxiety to go down to the shelters. The windows and balconies of the houses of Senglea were not decorated with cribs or illuminated with stars or with slogans proclaiming the joy of Christmas. They were all dark and barren with windows blocked up. The atmosphere around the harbour area on the night of Christmas was fully lit with the searchlights probing the skies for enemy aircrafts; the flashing of the exploding bombs and the horrible din the planes, guns and bombs created.
From their shelters, our fathers, huddled together to keep out the cold and full of anxiety of what is going on while at the same time hearing the deafening roar made by the exploding bombs. Whole areas of Senglea were destroyed by the falling bombs and the whole city was now a bombed up area. Nonetheless to keep up the spirits some even tried to start humming some Christmas hymn and there were even some cribs in various corners of the shelters. Prayers were said continuously and with more devotion and all the people had their minds on Our Lady even though her statue was rather far away from them.
A special occasion for the children of Senglea was the administration of Confirmation by Bishop Michael Gonzi, who at that time was still Bishop of Gozo, on the 28th December 1941, the feast of the Innocent. The children and their god fathers/god mothers were lined up in the sacristy, next to a half destroyed church. The ceremony had to be stopped because another air attack was announced. The congregation, in orderly manner, went down the shelter situated in Victory Street near the Church. Bishop Michael Gonzi, still in his ceremonial vests, went down with the gathering. Once the attack was over the ceremony could continue. One can image that this was surely an unforgettable occasion for the children who received their Confirmation than and they would surely remember it all throughout their lives. Once the ceremony was over, all went their separate ways because the uncertain situation did not permit them to linger on unnecessarily.
Whoever lived through that Christmas will surely remember it for ever. It was an unforgettable experience. It was impossible to walk through the streets of Senglea, because of the rubble cause by the destroyed houses. To this one can add the dust which because of the rain turned into mire. It was a Christmas during which everyone could see death all over the place. To the many who lost their relatives or their homes, the period of Christmas reminded them more the Passion of Christ than to the usual joy attributed to Christmastide.