This article is not about a Fraternity as we saw in previous articles but about a Congregation of laymen who are linked to a particular altar in our church. This is confirmed more so when one sees that the name of the society was Pia Unione, a society to spread the devotion of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This congregation adopted this altar which in days gone by had the titular picture of that of Our Lady of Grace. This society was set up following the initiative of the sacristan of the church Guzeppi Abela or as he was more commonly known as l-Lurajrnu. In 1884, Guzeppi, in close cooperation with the Arch priest Canon Dun Anton Cordina and with the approval of the Ecclesiastic Authorities set up this congregation with the principal aim of spreading devotion towards Our Lady under the title of Queen of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

     The members of this congregation used to organise special service all throughout the month of May on this altar. They also used to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Grace on the Sunday which fell between the feast of the Ascension to Heaven of Jesus, which then was celebrated on a Thursday, and Pentecost Sunday. This Sunday always fell in May and they used to celebrate it in the same way the other Fraternities used to celebrate their titular feast but they did not hold a procession. The members of the congregation took part in processions held in the parish such as that of Corpus Christi and that of the titular feast that is of Marija Bambina. They followed their while standard with red border and with the letters ND embroidered on it which was made in 1892. They also took part in the procession of the Solemn Viaticum which was held on the Sunday after Easter. They made two exceptions to their rules namely they took part in the procession carried out on the 4^th September 1921 when the statue of Marija Bambina was crowned and in 1934 on the fifty anniversary of their congregation when a procession was held where even the Chapter took part. The congregation did not owe a statue so for the procession held in 1934 they borrowed the statue of Our Lady of the Chain and the Fraternity owing this statue also took part in the procession. They did not were the usual garb wore by the members of other Fraternities but wore laymen’s clothes. They had a medallion painted on white satin and it was hanged round their neck with a red ribbon.

     Even though the congregation did not owe a statue for procession purposes they owed a small very beautiful statue which was brought over from France soon after the congregation was set. Naturally this statue was put up on the altar of Our Lady of Grace and in a short while a silver niche was made for it. Since this statue was put up on this altar it started to be called the altar of the Sacro Cuor (Sacred Heart) as it is still know today.

     As we have already pointed out the altar was dedicated to Our Lady of Grace and the painting showed Our Lady with Baby Jesus on the top of the painting and on the lower part there were St Francis of Assisi, St Anthony of Padua and St Leonard. Unfortunately this picture was taken out of the Basilica in 1941 for safe keeping during the war and when the hostilities were over this picture was not found where it was stored. When the church was reopened in 1957 the old painting had to be replaced by the one we have today. It is another beautiful picture of Stefano Erardi and shows the mystic marriage between Jesus and St Catherine. Jesus is shown on Our Lady’s lap at the top of the picture while he is putting on the ring on the finger of St Catherine.

Ornaments and decorations

     We saw that this congregation was set up by Guzeppi Abela and this responsible and well known personality lived to a venerable age of ninety, sixty years of which he spent as the sacristan of the parish. Apart from that he was a great benefactor of the congregation more so to the altar of the Sacred Heart where he himself paid for some of the decorations and ornaments. We can say that without any reason of doubt the altar of the Sacred Heart has the richest amount of decorations in the Basilica and all this is due to the hard work of l-Lurarju.

     Up to the war the perspective of the altar was in marble which was made in 1899. This altar and that of the Holy Trinity were the only two altars which had their perspectives in marble.

     For the time of the feast the altar has a set of sold silver candlesticks which were made in France in 1910. In between there are four small statuettes representing saints who taught and preached a lot about Our Lady, namely Saint Ambrose, St Augustine, Saint Bonaventura and Saint Bernard and the statuettes were all made by Wistin Camilleri. Like the Fraternity the congregation strove to decorate its altar as best as it could and here we can mention various silver objects such as the altar front (1895), the hanging oil lamp (1905), the missal (1897) all designed by Gwakkin Galea. The silver niche with the statue of Our Lady is exposed on the altar all the year round. The altar has two set of silver altar cards. One was made in 1888 and was given to the congregation by three benefactors namely Guzeppi and Vincenz Aquilina and Carmelo Gelfo. The other set of altar cards was made in 1908 and was given by Natal and Adele Bonello. There are also two pairs of small candlesticks. Six candlesticks which can take small torches and which can be put on the altar are now used on the top shelf of the altar which is put up in front of the statue of Marija Bambina during the time of the feast and in days gone by these candlesticks were used during the procession held in the church on the eve of the feast and which procession used to start from the altar of the Sacro Cuor. Like all other altars it has a red velvet top cloth embroidered in golden threads which is one of the most beautiful we have in the church and which was made in 1895.