FRATERNITY OF THE HOLY TRINITY

      The devotion towards the Holy Trinity in Senglea goes back a long time. In the report of the Pastoral visit made by Bishop Tumas Gargallo in 1621 here is a note which said that in the top of the titular painting which is found in the church there is also a small painting of the Holy Trinity included. 

     The first records we have of an altar dedicated to Holy Trinity are dated 1651. The titular picture on this altar showed the Holy Trinity in the upper part of the painting and the four Evangelists in the lower part. This devotion led to the setting up of the Fraternity in 1652. The first members of the Fraternity took their profession in 1669. The main aim of the Fraternity was to try and do something for those unfortunate people who were taken into slavery which was a common occurrence in those days. It took the Fraternity some time to find ways on how to go about their plan but then they started to collect funds so that they could pay the necessary ransom to free the slaves and also help the families of those persons taken into slavery. As time went by the full administration of this social work fell into the hands of the Fraternity and the members used to increase the funds collected by paying themselves regular alms into their funds. In 1700 the Fraternity started to celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity in a more solemn way and also started to organise a procession with the Holy Sacrament.

     The members have a real nice vestment. On top of the white garb they wear a yellowish cotton scapular which has a red and blue cross stuck on to it and than on tope a cape made of same material which also has a similar coloured cross on its left hand side.

     In 1728 the titular picture was changed. The new one showed the Holy Trinity on top and on the lower side of the picture there are St John de Matha and St Felix de Valios. St John de Matha founded the Order of the Trinitarians in 1198 with the main scope of doing everything possible to free the Christian slaves from the hands of the Muslims. St Felix helped St John de Matha a lot in the setting up of the Order and in its organisation during its first years of activities.

      During the middle of the 18th century on the 11th October the Fraternity started celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Remedy, who was the patron of the Order. A lot of Indulgences including a Plenary Indulgence could be obtained by showing devotion to the Holy Trinity. In 1805 the sculptor of marble the Senglean Karlu Durante built the altar for the Fraternity. One can point out that up to the war this altar was found on the other side of the church and it was brought up to its present location when there were some movements in the positions of the altars when the church was rebuilt.

     The artistic statue of the Holy Trinity was donated to the Fraternity in 1840. This statue represents the Holy Trinity as seen through human eyes. On a large globe we find the statue representing the Eternal Father holding a sceptre in His left hand as a sign that He is the king of the whole creation. He is looking at His Divine Son who in His right hand is holding signs of His redemption of the whole mankind. In the middle on a large aureole which is coming out of the globe there is a dove which represents the Holy Spirit. This statue, a masterpiece of the Senglea sculptor Antonio Chircop (1798-1869) was donated to the Fraternity by Frangisku Cini in thanksgiving for a vow he had made. It was taken out in procession for the first time on the 14th June 1840.

     In 1853, Vincenzo Cassar, a member of the Fraternity and a benefactor commissioned the painting of a new titular picture and it is the one we have today. It was painted by the Senglean artist Tommaso Madiona (1804-1864) and he painted it on the same lines as the previous one with slight additions. On the lower side of the picture in between the figures of St John de Matha and St Felix de Valios he included a small altar showing the Eucharist being exposed for the adoration of the faithful and on each side of the altar there are two figures one representing Our Lady and the other the Church. In the same year Canon Dun Frangisk Schembri donated to the Fraternity the holy remains of St Perinja which is now found on the front of the altar.

     In 1864 the Senglean marble firm of Giuseppe Darmanin and sons built a new altar and the perspective around the altar out of fine marble. It is worthwhile to point out that this Fraternity had many renowned Sengleans who were members such as the Bishop Salvatore Gaffiero, the maker of statues Karlu Darmanin, the Provost of the Philippines Dun Ang Raggio as well as many Canons and Arch priests of the Collegiate.

     As already pointed out the position of the altar was changed when the church was re built. Ironically enough the place where there was the altar in pre war days is now occupied by the statue of the Holy Trinity made by Chircop. This statue underwent some maintenance work in 1986 and in 1989 a pedestal and a walnut throne were made for it. The statue with its present attachments was put in its present place so that it can be admired by all. This artistic statue was for over one hundred years the only Holy Trinity statue in Malta. The last time it was taken out in procession was in 1967.

Decorations and ornaments

     This Fraternity always had hard working procurators and apart from the benefactory works it did the Fraternity also managed to find the necessary resources to make ornaments for its altar. For the period of the feast there are a set of candlesticks made of gilded metal which are placed on the top shelf and on the second layer of shelf of the altar. They were donated by the Gioioso family at the end of the nineteenth century. Also during the time of the feast in the space between the candlesticks on the top shelf there were six gilded papier mache statues made by the renowned artist Wistin Camilleri and who represent six Doctors of the Church who preached and gave concrete evidence about the church teaching on the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. The six saints are Saint Ambroge, Saint Augustine, Saint Atanasio, Saint Illario, Saint Gregory Nazjanzjenu and Saint Fulgensio. In 1880 the benefactor Vincenzo Cassar paid for the expenses to make a silver antependium. It was made on the design of the Senglea Francesco Bonnici and made by the well known silversmith Roberto Cannataci. The same Francesco Bonnici made the design of the top altar cover which is made of velvet and embroidered in golden threads.

      The altar has other silver ornaments such as the hanging oil lamp which was made in 1839 by Paolo Camilleri; the silver missal made in 1900 and which was donated by the Fraternity member Carmelo Borg Sapiano; the altar cards made by the silversmith Paolo Schembri in 1832 and paid for by the Fraternity member Carmel Cassar and a set of four small candlesticks to be put on the altar and were donated by Giuseppa Castaldi in 1895.

      For the procession there are the ornaments which embellish the statue, such as the halo on the head of the statue of the Holy Father; the sceptre in His hands and another halo on the head of the statue of Jesus. The standard is made of white damask and the emblem is embroidered on it and has also a light blue border. The silver standard pole was made by the silversmith Giovanni Carlo Cassar in 1774 and the silver emblem on top of the pole was made in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The silversmith Cassar soon afterwards made the ‘surgentini’ (procession’s leader staff) which were paid for by Fraternity member Pasquale di Cesare. The Cross which is carried during the procession was made in 1900 and it was donated by Antonio Misura while the two lanterns which flank the Cross were made in 1877 by the silversmith Felicissimo Rosso. The Prefect’s medallion, a wonderful piece of art and design was made during the time of Grand Master de Rohan by the silversmith Aloisio Dalmas.

     Here one must point out that up to the War during the feast of the Hold Trinity all the church altars were decorated with a set of wooden gilded candlesticks which belonged to the Fraternity. This feast was considered so highly and it fact it was considered as the second most important feast in the parish second only to the titular feast of Marija Bambina and the church service and the external festivities were carried out with great solemnity. The statues of St John de Matha and of St Felix de Valios were even put up on the church’s parvis during the feast of the Holy Trinity. 

     This Fraternity remained active for many years even in the post war era but than its activities started to diminish until it died a natural death. The many registers and documents belonging to the Fraternity, a Fraternity which without doubt did a lot of good work and which gave an honourable name to Senglea, today are stored in the parish’s archives.

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