SENGLEA THROUGH THE
AGES - 40
Our Lady of Doctrine – a feast organised by the youths of Senglea
Even though a lot has already been written about Senglea,
every now and than we discover something new. In the records kept by the
Archpriest of Senglea Dun Leopoldu Fiteni dated
These ceremonies were organised by the Fraternity of
Penance and Christian Doctrine. This fraternity was mainly run by the youths of
the parish and had great devotion towards the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God
and considered Her the patron of their fraternity.
On the last Sunday of the month, in this case
On the top layer of the altar there was the statue of Our
Lady of Doctrine. The façade of the church was lit up by oil-lit scones. Victory
Street too was decorated with these scones and some other streets had some
decorations to mark the feast.
Late in the evening, as the sun was going down, some
musical enthusiast used to meet in
Fireworks was than very much part of the feast and there
were some displays called ‘macchine di fuochi artificiali’ (machines of
artificial fireworks). This was the display most waited for during the ground
fireworks display. The actual description was ‘guoco di fuoco’ (fireworks
display) and it has been given a more common name of giggifogu. The more fantasy
the maker had the more brilliant the show turns out to be. The fireworks
displays in Senglea were always of high standard but there was general agreement
that the ground fireworks display let off on Saturday was always of very high
standard.
The Archpriest Fiteni, who gave us all these details,
celebrated the
This was considered as a feast for the youths and they all
felt the need to be present for High Mass and also receive Holy Communion.
A lot of flowers were used to decorate the church but the
money was not used solely to decorate the church. Guzeppi Mallia, the first
assistant of the fraternity, made it a point to donate 227 loafs of bread to the
poor of the parish. There were many poor families than and there were many who
were ashamed to show their actual poor condition, but since the conditions of
these families were known to all they were also given a loaf so as to give help
to as many families as possible.
The music in the evening of the feast day was directed by
the renowned Maestro Paolo Nani. Nani was also the teacher of many other people
who became famous as musicians later on in life.
The procession on the feast day of Our Lady of Doctrine
The procession was led by the standard of St Vincent de
Paule. The standard was made of golden threads. Then a large group of youths
followed and in their midst they carried another standard with a picture of Our
Lady of Doctrine sewn into it in silver threads. The youths of Senglea were very
enthusiastic about this feast and participated in large number for this feast,
which they considered their own.
They made sure that their homes were properly decorated
especially those who lived in streets through which the procession had to pass.
Many flags were hanging from the balconies and the feast was so popular that
many people from outside Senglea came for the procession.
The setting up of the society of Our Lady of Doctrine was
providential for Senglea because there were not many other groups which took it
in hand to spread the teaching of Christian Doctrine. The statue of Our Lady of
Doctrine was liked by all. Young girls with dresses coming down to their ankles
walked in front of the statue. They wore a golden coloured medallion of Our Lady
which was shown carrying two crowns, one made of thorns and one made of roses.
These young girls were happy and proud to form part of this group. Our Lady was
considered as their patron and helped them during their growing up period. In
those days, just over one hundred and fifty years ago, this fraternity was
different from other fraternities in that it was youth orientated. We find a
note about a certain young man, Frangisku Mallia, who was an elegant and well to
do you man. He was than the leader of this group. One of his main duties was to
reprimand those members of the fraternity who were not behaving as a good
Christian.
The procession was not a monotonous event. Good musicians
were invited to make the procession as lively as possible. They walked just in
front of the statue. Twelve of the oldest members of the group accompanied the
statue carrying torches. The banner of the Dominican friars followed the statues
and then the Dominican friars, the choir and the violinists came behind them.
The clergy, who was very numerous, came next, followed by the canons. The
Archpriest, Dun Leopoldu Fiteni, came up at the rear carrying the relic of Our
Lady.
Once the procession returned back to the church, the
members of the fraternity and the clergy waited round the altar and sang the Te
Deum. The Archpriest than blessed those present with the relic of Our Lady. Each
one of those present went up to the altar to kiss the relic. The blessing by the
Blessed Sacrament brought the feast to an end. The music and the ringing of the
bells filled everyone with great joy and afterwards they could all go home
satisfied following a wonderful feast day.
SENGLEA THROUGH THE AGES -
41
The altar and painting of the Immaculate Conception in 1700
This chapter takes a look at Senglea of just over three
hundred years ago. The parish priest was Dun Mikiel Testaferrata (1694-1715). We
have detailed inventory of those years particularly of the year 1700. They are
kept in books called Inventari and which are filed at the Archbishop’s Curia of
Malta. The third volume of these Inventari deals with the period 1610-1725. The
particular altar we are going to look into in this chapter is one which is very
dear to the hearts of the people of Senglea. The statue of Marija Bambina used
to be kept on this altar and up to those days it was still known as the statue
of the Immaculate Conception. There still remained about a further one hundred
more years until clear distinction was made between Marija Bambina and the
Immaculate Conception. This took place when Mariano Gerada made the beautiful
statue of the Immaculate Conception and which is kept in the sacristy of the
church.
Ever since the fraternity of the Immaculate Conception was
set up the altar carrying the same title was its responsibility. Up to those
days the Church had not as yet issued the clear definition of the Dogma of the
Immaculate Conception. The teaching about Our Lady was greatly spread throughout
the city because of the work carried out by the Franciscan friars.
It was in 1700 that the picture of the Immaculate
Conception was put up on top of the altar. The author of the painting is still
unknown. If the painting we have now is the same painting referred to in the
Inventarju that it is definitely not of Franciscu Zahra (1700-1773).
The ornaments of the painting and of the altar
The painting of Our Lady in the picture is crowned with a
silver crown. It was also protected by a large glass pane. There was also a blue
and which drape hanging just in front of the picture.
A frontal for the altar had just been made and it
was decorated in various colours. On the altar there was a wooden cross and the
crucifix was made of lead but gold gilded.
The Sacrament in Solemn Exposition
The altar of the Immaculate Conception was also used so
that one could give special reverence to the Body of Christ in the sacrament of
the Holy Eucharist. Therefore this altar was the best kept and adorned of all
the altars in the parish. Twelve new wooden candlesticks had just been made and
they were all silver gilded. Twelve artificial flower arrangements and they new
vases were also introduced in 1700.
On the fourth Sunday of each month solemn exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament used to be held. So a new canopy was made to be used during
this exposition. Two pictures of angles in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
were also introduced in the chapel.
This special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament made of the
altar a very special one for the people of Senglea.
(This information was gathered from:
AAm, Inventarju, III(161001725) f. 119 r-v)