Fr George Aquilina, OFM: The Jerosolimitan Nuns, the Church, and Monastery of Saint Ursula, Valletta – Malta, MIOCS, Malta, 2001, xxiv+310 pp.

Fr George Aquilina’s history of the nuns and monastery of St Ursula in Valletta is, as has been widely acknowledged, an outstanding work of historical research.

The original Maltese version, published in 2004, had deservedly won first prize in the academic/scientific/technical section of the Malta Literary Awards.

The Italian version, published a couple of years later, obtained similar accolades. The English version is indeed long overdue as it promises to reach a much wider audience.

Fr Aquilina, or Patri Ġorġ as he is much better known, is a meticulous researcher who has over the past 20 years amassed a great amount of information from local and foreign libraries and archives, leaving no available page unturned.

As the chaplain to the cloistered nuns for the past 25, he also had the advantage of inside knowledge of the monastery. In the process, Aquilina has uncovered lots of new details and put right other information that has proved to be historically incorrect and mistaken.

A few might express scepticism as to the value of a book about cloistered nuns, but this is really a book of great value about Maltese history in general and Malta’s religious past in particular. It is a book rich in fascinating detail which also throws light on the island’s social history.

The order of nuns is an intrinsic part of the Order of St John and, following the expulsion of the knights in 1798, this makes them the only branch of the order that has continuously remained on the island since their own foundation.

The order owes its foundation in 1583 to the reforming zeal of Grand Master Verdalle, who founded the monastery in Vittoriosa to look after young female orphans pro virginitatis ipsarum conservatione. This was the first female monastery the order set up in Malta, and two Poor Clares were brought over from Sicily to manage it.

Their first home was actually the old magisterial palace. Twelve years later the nuns moved to Valletta to their magnificent site overlooking Grand Harbour, which they still occupy to this day.

The order saw that the nuns should have a decent income and to the usual gifts of lands and revenues was added one which might look very odd to the modern reader. The monastery was given the right to claim a part of the spoils of the corsairing activities that took place in Malta. They were actually granted a lancia, that is, the first one-fifth of the total amount of the prize which was given for their particular spiritual contribution to the success of the mission.

Fr Aquilina goes into meticulous details in recording the building of the various stages of the monastery and its church, which is not difficult to follow thanks to some excellent plans.

The nuns had their golden years under the order, with all grand masters vying to donate gifts and benefices and keeping them under their full jurisdiction.

Things changed during the French occupation when the nuns were the only branch of the order that was not ordered out by Bonaparte’s troops.

Yet they were in for a hard time, having to billet four soldiers in the monastery with jurisdiction passing to the bishop. Conditions became very difficult, with nine nuns dying during the blockade and the monastery hit by the besiegers’ cannon.

Two cannonballs that struck the building are still conserved.

Things did improve, albeit very slowly, during the British administration. However, financial problems remained a recurring major preoccupation.

Potentially their saddest moment was when they had to abandon their monastery during the Second World War because of its strategic location on the harbour.

The peace they found at Marsalforn must have been of a different nature from the inner peace that marked their Valletta monastery, which too suffered from Fascist bombs in 1942.

Although the monastery, the church, and even the gardens suffered considerable damage, not surprisingly considering the fact of their dominating position on the harbour, the nuns did return to Valletta on January 12, 1944. The church is actually the largest church to be conjoined to a monastery in Malta.

Many of the precious works of art as well as the archive registers had been stored away in a safe place at Birkirkara, the magnificent St Ursula magnificent altarpiece by Mattia Preti, a painting that any museum would be proud to own, was too big to be moved out.

Fortunately it was left practically unscathed.

The nuns also have in their possession several important works of art that were donated over the years, including a good number of gold and silver liturgical items of expert workmanship and inestimable value, as well as holy relics.

Pride of place here must go to the skull of the Blessed Gerald Sasso, the founder of the order and which was for a time venerated in the chapel of the Grand Master’s Palace.

Of exceptional value is an exquisite silver flagellation attributed to Alessandro Algardi and François Duquesnoy which has emerged into all its glory after its recent restoration.

Another exceptional item is a model of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem inlaid with mother of pearl, which was exhibited in Milan in 2000.

Although the idea of opening the monastery as a museum goes directly against the charisma of the order, perhaps some kind of compromise could be reached, limiting the opening to a few special occasions a year.

Notte Bianca could be one such occasion. Such an activity would also help the finances of the order, which are not that rosy. Moreover, it would make more people aware of this unknown jewel that is to be found in our midst.

One of the several appendices in the book which must have cost Patri Ġorġ years of research and counterchecking is a list of all the nuns who entered the monastery. It emerges that it was not rare for girls to be admitted at a young age, sometimes from the age of eight.

For many of them there are very brief but interesting biographical notes, which could prove ground for further research. The latest nun was admitted on September 1, 2007 – she was aged 17.

The translation was ably done by Miguel Debattista although the decision to enclose quotations in inverted commas is dubious and debatable. This becomes even more confusing in the endnotes.

Finally, due credit must be given to the excellent contribution by Daniel Cilia who was responsible for most of the photographs in the book. The book is available for sale from the monastery itself at a very reasonable €35.