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Viva x-Xemx
Viva l-Madonna ta' Loreto
Ghajnsielem celebrates the feast of Our Lady
of Loreto during the last Sunday of August. This section
offers a
collection of photos and articles that Ghajnsielem.com has
reported since 2002. Click on a year above To re-live
the highlights of the past feast celebrations.
The town of Loreto,
Italy
Loreto
town (1991 est. pop. 10,780), in the Marche, central Italy,
on a hill overlooking the Adriatic Sea. It has silk
industries and is a famous place of pilgrimage. According to
legend, the Holy House of the Virgin in Nazareth was brought
to Loreto through the air by angels in 1294.
Analysis of
literary sources, however, indicates that the transport of
the Santa Casa happened by sea and not through the
assistance of angels. During the medieval period of
Christian history it was common for monks and crusaders to
be called ‘angels’ by the common people, this explaining the
legend of ‘angels’ flying the house from the Holy Land to
Loreto. Archaeological evidence and documents uncovered in
1962 suggest that the house may indeed derive from the
region of Nazareth as its limestone and cedar construction
materials are not available in the area of Loreto.
The Holy House
itself is quite small, and its single room with a small
altar contains a Black Madonna statue and a blue ceiling
with golden stars. In 1469, a large Basilica was built over
the Holy House.
The arrival of
the Holy House in Loreto is celebrated on December 10. The
Virgin of Loreto is considered the patron saint of
emigrants, and expectant mothers often visit the shrine to
pray for protection and blessings of their families. Today
Loreto is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Europe
with an estimated 4 million visitors each year.
The Black Madonna
A Black Madonna or Black Virgin is a statue
or painting of Mary in which she is depicted
with dark or black skin. The Shrine of Our
Lady of Loreto is simply an image as
unfortunately the 14th century one was
destroyed by a fire in 1921. The original
wasn't black but the red fir had darkened
over the centuries, so when the new statue
was carved from Lebanon cedar a black tint
was used it caused no sensation since
by then everyone was used to seeing a black
Madonna.
Tal-Balzunetta's
famous watermelons
The popular 'Marc Tal-Balzunetta'
is well known for the euphoric celebrations especially
from the revellers. One can easily notice that most
revellers wear the same garment colors and hold a
watermelon in their hands while dancing with the tunes
of 'Viva x-Xemx' and 'Ta' Garrew' marches. Ghajnsielem.com has followed
the process of making these famous watermelons.
view feature
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The Titular Statue
A
story written by the first parish priest of the
locality says that a certain Anglu Grech, gave water
every evening to his herd, while also saying the
rosary, since he was very devout towards the virgin
Mary. One day the story affirms that the virgin Mary
talked to him and commanded him to make a statue
under the title of Loreto. Apart from that, she also
showed him a place where to build the church, which
today is found as the ancient church of Ghajnsielem.
The titular
statue of Our Lady of Loreto was manufactured by Gallard
et Fils
of Marseilles. The statue was ordered by Parish Priest
Refalo. It was ordered after Ghajnsielem was spared from
Cholera in 1865. The people of Ghajnsielem immediately
donated over 500 scudi for the statue which was manufactured
in less than a year. It arrived in Gozo on 14th October 1866
costing 420 scudi.
It is interesting to
mention a curious mishap that took place when the
statue was brought over to Gozo from Marseilles. The
statue was initially sealed in a wooden box and was
located in the 'Kalkanja' warehouse in Mgarr (today
the warehouse is known for the Velsons Winery) until
the preparations for the blessing ceremony were
ready. When the Ghajnslemizi removed the statue from
the wooden box (which was full of straw to protect
the statue), they dumped the empty box in the Mgarr
valley. While the happy Ghajnslemizi were admiring
the Madonna, someone noticed that the statue had two
empty hinges on both sides. The people decided to go
back to Mgarr valley to search and see if
something was missing from the statue. In the box
among the straws they found two golden angels which
fitted perfectly between the Madonna. The blessing
took place on 14th October 1866 during a ceremony in
which the statue
was carried processionally from the port of Mgarr to
Ghajnsielem.
The titular statue
arrived back to Mgarr after it was renovated in 1920
In 1920, the titular
statue was renovated for the first time. But a small
controversy had erupted
during this period as while the Ghajnslemizi wanted to
coat the statue in fine gold, the Parish
Priest, Dun Frangisk Mizzi wanted to repaint the
statue in natural colours. Dun Mizzi consulted with
Nadur's Archpriest Dun Martin Camilleri who in
return famously replied "Forsi jekk tagħmila kif tixtieq int
tiġi isbaħ, iżda għamila kif jixtieq il-poplu". The
people of Ghajnsielem had their way and the statue
was taken to Malta where, with great craftsmanship,
Valletta's Frangisk Coleiro structurally
reinforced and gilded the statue. These works
amounted to Lm50 but this was collected in just a few months.
The statue arrived
back on the Gozo Boat Number 10 which belonged to
Salvatore Xuereb known as 'Ta Pupull' on Thursday
26th August 1920. The statue was immediately taken
to Lourdes Chapel where, on that very same night,
Wistin Camilleri repainted the faces of the human
figures including that of the Madonna.
The newly renovated
statue was unveiled to the public three days later
on Sunday 29th August in a ceremony which held under
a tent in the port of Mgarr. For this occasion, the
Ghajnslemizi obtained the services of Birgu's 'Duke
of Edinburgh' Band. This band, which was very
popular in those times, offered this service free of
charge. Several Maltese people accompanied this band
which arrived to Gozo on the 'Princes Melita' ferry.
The boat was rented by Dun Frangisk Mizzi for Lm15.
The ceremony started at 4.00pm and the statue was
officially unveiled by W.C. Millard, the
Government's Assistant Secretary for Gozo among the
applause of the Ghajnslemizi. The statue was then
taken processionally to the Old Parish Church. The
'Duke of Edinburgh' Band returned back to Mgarr
playing popular marches before boarding the ferry
back to Malta.
The statue
was again recoated in fine gold in 2004. On Friday
20th August, hundreds of Ghajnsilmizi gathered at
the 'Ta Pinu' Sanctuary where they accompanied
the statue via a carcade to Lourdes Chapel.
The next day, the St Joseph Band accompanied the
titular statue to the main square where a special
mass was concelebrated by Bishop Mons. Nikol G.
Cauchi. The water laid gilding was sponsored by
Joseph Vassallo.
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