THE FRATERNITY AND THE CHAPEL OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

        The second Fraternity which we are going to put under the lenses is that of the Blessed Sacrament, which is found in practically every town and village in Malta and Gozo. 

       Without doubt this was the first Fraternity set up in Senglea. We know that even before Senglea was made a parish, in the small church of St Julians which is those days was serving as vice parish church, there was a branch of the Fraternity of the Sacrament of Vittoriosa, because up to than Senglea formed part of the parish of Vittoriosa. Senglea was made a parish in the early days of 1581. There is a document dated 11^th March 1581 wherein the members of the Fraternity asked the Vicar General that since Senglea has now become a parish they wished they during the procession of St Gregory they would follow the Parish priest of Senglea and no longer the Parish priest of Vittoriosa. The Fraternity was recognised a little time later, during the time of the first Parish priest, Dun Anton Di Nicolaci.

   Like all Fraternities of the Blessed Sacrament their main aim was to spread the devotion and veneration of Jesus in the Eucharist and so they were under obligation to organise as best as they could the procession of Corpus Christi.

       By the time the second Parish priest Dun Vincenz Caruana was installed, the Fraternity was already functioning very well in fact as from 1602 they used to organise a small procession with the Blessed Sacrament every third Sunday of the month, so much so that this procession started to be called ‘tat-Terza’ (of the third). In those days the Blessed Sacrament used to be kept in a tabernacle on the main altar and so the Fraternity, unlike other Fraternities did not have its own altar. In 1720, when the sacristy, the same we use nowadays, was built the Fraternity was given the ex-sacristy to be used as an Oratory and serve as a meeting place for the Fraternity’s functions. So they built an altar and hanged some paintings with Biblical scenes which had some connections with the Eucharist. Some of these pictures are still in use even in our times.

     In 1786 the church of Senglea was elevated to the status of Collegiate and now there was the need of having a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament could be kept because the main altar was being used in a lot of ceremonies. The place chosen was on the right of the main altar, a place dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and where there was the niche of the statue of Marija Bambina. In fact up to the start of World War II the statue of Marija Bambina was always placed in this niche during the year, on top of the altar of the Blessed Sacrament and the picture of the Immaculate Conception was only placed there during the time of the feast when naturally the niche was empty. This chapel was destroyed during the war but was rebuilt on same footprint. Now the statue of Marija Bambina is in a niche behind the main altar in the choir and the picture of the Immaculate Conception is now the titular picture of the altar of the Blessed Sacrament. One each side there are two small paintings by the artist Emvin Cremona, which depict the Last Supper and the miracle at Emmaus. In 1976 the pilaster of the chapel were covered in marble and the artist from Senglea Carmelo Spiteri continued the decoration.

Other decorations and ornaments

     This chapel is the focal point of devotion in the church. The altar is decorated as fits the place with treasures gathered over a number of years and which can be considered as a heritage.

     Up to some years ago during the time of the feast the chapel used to be decorated with tapestry made of fine silk with designs of grapes and raises in yellow threads. In 1985 a new set of tapestry was made also of fine silk but with golden threads. In 1996 a new set of tapestry was made of palm silk which is used on Maundy Thursday when the Sepulchre is placed in this chapel, during Christmas time and for the feast of Corpus Christi. The silver tabernacle and the monstrance throne on top of it are an eye catching piece in this chapel. They were donated by Canon Guzeppi Bonanno in 1912. He was later on to become Arch priest of Senglea. During the feast the altar has a set of candlesticks made of metal but covered in silver on the top and second layer. There are also four statuettes which represent four Doctors of the Church who taught about the mystery of the Eucharist and vases with ‘ganutell’ (flower arrangements in gold and silver threads) flower arrangements. The silver altar frontal was made about one hundred years ago on the design of Mikiel DeGiovanni. The main design is a chalice surrounded by a vine tree and corn and on the side there are two figures which represent Faith and Hope. The handing oil lamp was donated by Carmelo Zammit in 1927 and was designed by the architect Andrea Vassallo. The remainder of the decorations of the altar belong to the Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception. 

     The Fraternity of the Sacrament has also some ornaments which are used during processions. A new embroidered standard was inaugurated in 1999. It has a silver pole and a large silver emblem which stands on top of the pole. This emblem is made of a chalice with an aureole and was made in 1822 by the silversmith Paolo Busuttil and in that same year he also did the Prefect’s medallion. The ‘surgentina’ (a long thin wooden stick having a holy medal or image at its upper end and was carried by a member of the Fraternity in charge of the orderliness in a procession) was made in 1790 by Salvatore Letard. Since this Fraternity also organised the procession of Corpus Christi it has also four silver lanterns and six poles with silver tops for the portable canopy. For the procession of the third Sundays (it-Terza) there was another standard with a different silver emblem at the top and another portable canopy with four silver poles. There is also a small umbrella with a silver handle which is used when the Blessed Sacrament is transported inside the church during services.

     This Fraternity remained active until a few years after the church was reopened in 1957 after it was rebuilt following its destruction in World War II.