TOUR OF THE BASILICA AND ITS PRECIOUS ITEMS

 

     The Collegiate of Senglea is a church which possesses a lot of pieces of fine art.

     The present church was rebuilt after it was destroyed during World War II and was again opened and consecrated by the Arch Bishop Michael Gonzi in 1957.

 

       Fortunately most of its works of art were saved and so we can enjoy their beauty even now.

When one enters the church one of the main pieces which drew a lot of attention is the magnificent Papal Altar (Tribuna) which was made on the design of Vincenzo Bonello and which was inaugurated in 1964.

   The marble which makes up this Papal Altar was manufactured by the Italian firm Battelli of Pietrasanta in Tuscany and the wooden structure by the firm Stufusser of Ortissi.

        The angles on the upper part of the
  Papal Altar were designed by Censu Apap.
          The beautiful statue of  Marija Bambina dominates in a niche high up behind the Papal Altar in the choir. The statue has been in Senglea since the 17th century during the time of Parish Priest Don Cosimo Talavera. Previously it was used as the decorative carving on the bow of some ship.
A Christian galley was sailing by the shores of Dalmatian and picked it up from the sea where the wooden statue was floating. Two sailors from Senglea asked the captain for it and he gave it to them. When they returned back to Senglea they gave it to the Parish Priest Talavera who accepted it with open arms.
   As time when by the statue became a centre point of great devotion. This devotion reached its climax on the 4th September 1921 when the Arch Bishop Mauro Caruana crowned the statue at the Senglea marina.

           In the part of the choir one can admire two very beautiful paintings made in 1741 by Francesco Zahra.        

The first one represents the visit of the Arch Angle Gabriel to Our Lady where she accepted his message to become Mother of God. The painter included a lot of angels on each side of the painting but there is also the Holy Spirit which is also a dominant factor in this painting.
   In the other one we have a painting of the presentation in the temple of Our Lady by her parents St Anne and St Joachim.
The two paintings are rather large and take up most of the length covered by the wooden stalls of the choir.

                                                                                                              The wooden stalls of the choir made in Italy in 1957.		  

    The two credence tables flanking the high altar, bedecked for the

feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and displaying silver

artefacts  used in liturgical celebrations.

     

The painting on the altar of the transept on the right hand side represents Our Lady of Sorrows with the dead body of Jesus Christ in her arms. It has always been maintained that this painting was made by Corrado Giaquinto.

 On the 10th March 1640 the Solidarity of Charity was formed and starting administering this altar. Following the reforms held in 1740, the Fraternity of the Crucifix took over all the responsibilities of the Fraternity of Charity.

The other altar in this transept is dedicated to Our Lady’s Ascension to heaven and in the painting there one can also see St Anne and St Carlo Borromeo.

This painting was made by the artist Stefano Erardi and the figure of Saint Carlo Borromeo reminds us that on the 20th June 1620, Pope Paul V approved the setting up of the fraternity dedicated to this Saint. Saint Carlo Borromeo was declared a saint by the same Pope Paul V in 1610.
     


There are also two paintings by Emvin Cremona in this transept.

 One shows Pope Benedict XV

During his time as Pope he issued two important degrees which are milestones in the history of our parish. One of the degrees was that one which permitted the crowning of the titular statue and the other was the elevation of our church to the statues of Basilica. That is the reason why the papal altar of this church is also shown in the background of this painting.

The other painting is of

Pope Pius XII.

It was during his papacy that the church was reopened and consecrated again after it was rebuilt following its destruction in World War II.

In this picture there is included in the background the church as it is today.

Another altar is dedicated to the mystical marriage of Saint Catherine and the painter of this picture is also Stefano Erardi.

The devotion to this saint goes back to a long time ago in Senglea and in the old church this altar was considered as one of the oldest altars in the church.

On this altar there is also a statue of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is framed in a silver niche.

In 1884 the Solidarity or Pia Unione was set up in our parish and this was set up to encourage devotion towards Our Lady.

The statue was brought over from France and in olden days there was also a fraternity of Our Lady of  Sacro Cuor.

The other altar on this side of the church is dedicated to Saint Francis of Paoli.

Saint Francis is the patron saint of sailors and so devotion towards this saint certainly goes back to a long time ago.

The altar was set up in 1602. This painting was made by Salvatore Mandarelli and he copied it from a painting by Murillo.


Another altar is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. In the painting of this altar apart from the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity we also find Saint John de Matha and Saint Felix de Valois, the founders of the Order of the Trinitarians.

This painting was made in 1853 by Tommaso Madiona but devotion towards the Holy Trinity goes even to years before in fact the fraternity of the Holy Trinity was set up in 1652.


        

In the first chapel on the right hand side of the church there is the statue of the Blessed Holy Trinity made of wood by the Master Antonio Chircop in 1840.

This is a magnificent piece of art and enhances the temple quite a lot

The walnut niche was made in 1989 by the sculptor Salvu Bugeja and the carpenter Guzeppi Galea.

   

The painting on the next altar shows Our Lady of Carmel together with Saint Simon Stock.

Devotion towards Our Lady of Carmel started in Senglea in 1718 and as time passed a Fraternity was set up and was very active for many years

The present painting was painted by Ramiro Cali in 1921.

The next altar is dedicated to St Joseph and the painting was made by Guzeppi Bonnici in 1860.

In the painting apart from St Joseph there is also Our Lady, Baby Jesus and a woman representing the Church.

The Fraternity of St Joseph was set up in our parish in the 17th century. In days gone by two feasts dedicated to St Joseph were held in Senglea.

The statue of Baby Jesus found on this altar was given to the Fraternity by Guzeppi Aquilina in the 18th century.

 

The chapel of the Blessed Sacrament of our parish is an architectural gem.

The main painting is of the Immaculate Conception and was painted by Francesco Zahra.

This picture reminds us that in the parish there was the Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception and was very active in the past. It used to organize Eucharistic processions every month; the feast of the Risen Christ and of Corpus Christi.

 Two paintings by Emvin Cremona are also found in this chapel.

 

The Last Supper of Our Lord Jesus Christ

 

 

 

 Jesus with the disciples of Emmaus.

The silver tabernacle

From here we come to the transept dedicated to Our Lady of Rosary. The painting on the altar was made by Emvin Cremona and was paid for by Bishop Emmanuel Galea who spent some time as procurator of the Fraternity of the Rosary in our parish.

Originally this Fraternity was set up in the church of Saint Philip in 1598 but as time went by it was transferred to the parish church.

The statue of the Ecce Homo which is found underneath the titular painting was donated by a family from Senglea to the church in thanks giving for surviving the blockade of the French.

In the altar there are also the remains of Saint Onorato which were given to the Parish Priest Fiteni in 1838.

The present painting was put up to replace the original one which was destroyed during World War II. The present painting was made by Guzeppi Bonnici and originally it represented Our Lady of Carmel. But the painter Karmenu Spiteri altered it to represent Our Lady of the Chain.

There are also two other paintings which are connected with the history of our parish.

One shows Pope Pius VI who in 1786 elevated our church to the title of Collegiate.

the other painting which shows

Pope Gregory XIII who in 1581 made Senglea a parish on its own.

In the background of this painting there is a picture of the church as it was originally before it was destroyed during the war.

These paintings were made by Emvin Cremona

       

        Under the arches along the central nave there are sixteen marble tondos depicting the apostles. They were made early in the 20th century by the Italian firm Bonetti. This is a real piece of fine arts.

Two other magnificent pieces of art are the pulpit and the baptistery.

The pulpit was made early in the 1930s and was blessed by the Arch Priest Bonanno on the 30th May 1931.

The baptistery was paid for by the Arch Priest Adami in 1911.

Marco Montebello, who performed various  sculptural Works for this church,

executed between  1975 and 1976 this organ loft, a graceful piece of work with sculptures in wood.

Two tablets close to the main portal recall two momentous events that took place in1921:     Pope Benedict XV’s elevation of this collegiate church to the dignity of a Basilica and the Crowning  of the Statue of the Virgin Mary  by Archbishop Mauro Caruana.

When the church was decorated, under the organ’s   loft were placed these two mosaic representations of St. Philip Neri  and St. Julian, recalling the parish’s  two filial churches.

The most recent pieces of art carried out in the church are the painting of the dome and the four pendentives beneath the dome. The eight sections of the dome, the work of Frank Portelli, feature the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Apostles, of the entire Creation, of Angels, of Virgins of Martyrs, of Confessors, of Patriarchs and of Prophets.

On June 16, 1995, were inaugurated  the  four pendentives.  In the four pendentives we find four biblical females who are considered as forerunners of Our Lady i.e. Esther, Sarah, Deborah, and Judith. These panels were made by Frank Portelli.

 

The painting on the choir’s apsidal cap portraying the triumph of the Knights of St John and the Maltese in the Great Siege of 1565, a victory achieved on September 8 Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.  The  three principal figures in the painting - the Madonna, Victorious Malta and Grand Master La Valette,  form a triangle on a background of Fort St Michael erected at the entrance to Senglea, and scenes of the triumph on the part of the Christians, balanced by corresponding scenes of devastation and defeat on the side of the Muslims.

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