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The life and devotion of the Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception
in the beginning of the 18th
century
An altar – amply decorated
In olden days all altars were used
for Mass, but the altar of the Immaculate Conception was one of the most used.
Devotion to the Immaculate Conception was always great in Senglea. The ornaments
for this altar were always of higher quality than those used for other altars.
The ‘karti tal-glorja’ (the central altar card) were always framed in a gilded
frame. The two side altar cards containing the gospel which was read at the end
of the Mass and the Lavabo (the prayers said when the priest washed his hands
during the Mass) were framed in a walnut frame. For Mass there used to be a
lectern to hold the missal and two candlesticks.
This altar had six altar covers and
six frontals all in different colours, one for each colour used in the liturgy.
The wooden frames of the frontals were sculptured and gilded.
In front of the altar there was a
silver hanging lamp and the altar had six bronze hanging lamps by the side of
it. During feasts days the walls of the chapel were decorated with red and
yellow damask.
The statue of the Risen Christ
The Fraternity of the Immaculate
Conception was in charge of the statue of the Risen Christ. The fraternity took
great care of the papier mache statue and its pedestal.
The fraternity, like all other
fraternities, had its own standard which was used during the processions. It was
always presumed that it would be a blue one but in fact it was coloured white.
As is the norm nowadays, a large cross with the crucifix on it followed the
standard during the procession. The cross and crucifix were all gilded.
The staff and bier
The member of the fraternity who
was in charge of his fellow members during the procession carried a staff in his
hands as a sign of his authority. The staff was a thin rather long piece of wood
in those days. Later on the staff was made of silver. On top of the staff there
used to be a small statue of the Immaculate Conception.
It was a tradition in those days
that fraternity members used to be carried to church on a bier when they pass
away and they used to be dressed up in their fraternity garb. The bier was like
a hammock which was carried by sticks of wood and used for the transportation of
the dead. In 1700 the fraternity of the Immaculate Conception had just made a
new bier to carry its dead members. It was made of wood.
The fraternity naturally showed
great devotion towards the statue of the Immaculate Conception.
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The statue of Marija Bambina – the pride of the Fraternity of the
Immaculate Conception in 1700
The Inventarju for the year 1700
and which is kept at the Archbishop’s Curia of Malta show us how proud the
Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception of Senglea was of their statue (AAM,
Inventarju, III, f.120 r-v). The statue was not a common one. Even though it was
known as the statue of the Immaculate Conception, it was the same statue of
Marija Bambina which arrived in Senglea in 1618 in rather unusual way. In 1700,
even though the Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception had possession of the
statue, in fact it belonged to the whole parish, since it was the titular statue
of the
The
procession
Every fraternity organised its own
procession. The Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception celebrated more than one
procession. By right the feast of the fraternity was celebrated on 8th
December. The ceremonies used to start fifteen days before the feast day and
continued until eight days after the feast day was over.
The fraternity celebrated in a
great and solemn way the procession of the 8th
September. But this procession belonged to the whole parish hence it was the
main procession. Even though the statue of Marija Bambina was under the
protection of the Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception the feast was
celebrated mainly on the main altar of the church. In those days no statue was
carried out during the procession of the titular feast. But the statue of the
Immaculate Conception or Marija Bambina of Senglea was not a common statue. The
statue attracted huge devotion from the faithful. We know that a votive
procession has been organised on the feast day of Marija Bambina since 1685,
nonetheless, up to 1805, the statue was still known as the statue of the
Immaculate Conception.
The procession in the hands of the fraternity
In 1700 the procession was for all
the people of the parish yet the Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception were
still responsible to organise two other processions with the same statue. One
was held on the 8th December and
another one was organised on the 4th
Sunday of May and it was dedicated to Our Lady of the Lily. Therefore the statue
of Marija Bambina was taken out in procession three times a year.
The decorated statue
The statue of Marija Bambina (or of
the Immaculate Conception as it was more commonly known in those days) did not
have the silver and golden decorations it has nowadays. It was a statue which
was dressed according to the occasion. It had a simple everyday dress and others
for feast days.
In 1700 a new tunic of silver and
golden white threads had just been made. On top of this tunic the statue had a
light blue mantle. The mantle was also made of silver and golden threads. These
silver and golden threads were made of very thin shining threads.
The every day tunic was intricate
in golden threads but its freeze was made of silver threads.
The praise of Marija Bambina
The people of Senglea decorated the
statue of Marija Bambina to the best of their abilities as a show of devotion
towards Our Lady. The statue had its feet resting on a white wooden platform
with golden fragments by its feet.
A golden necklace with very small
pearls surrounded the neck of the statue. In her hands the statue had seventeen
golden bracelets and two golden rings on her fingers. Around her neck the statue
had a bronze cross gilded and in the centre it had an emerald stone. On her head
the statue of Our Lady carried a crown full of precious stones coloured red and
blue.
The statue also had a sculptured
and gilded pedestal. There were three persons who were in charge to see that
nothing went amiss and all ceremonies were properly conducted. These three
persons were: Dun Gann-Luqa Caetano (who was the secretary and the depositor);
Dun Diegu Psinga (procurator) and Dimitri Tumbo (Captain of a galley).
The Fraternity of the Immaculate
Conception was very proud that the titular statue was in its hands but it always
insisted that the statue continue to be called the statue of the Immaculate
Conception.