The statue of Santa Marija at the Gozo Cathedral is one of the most cherished possessions. Its solemn entry into the cathedral on April 29, 1956, is commemorated every year.

The 65th anniversary of this event will be commemorated at the cathedral this evening. Archpriest Joseph Sultana will lead a sung Mass at 6.30pm with the participation of the committee of the Philharmonic Society and the Aurora youth choir.

The statue was acquired by the Leone Philharmonic Society in 1897 from the ‘fabbrica di statue religiose’ of Rome.

It arrived in Gozo in July 1897 and was blessed by Bishop Camilleri at the parvis of Saint James church, at It-Tokk, on August 13.

The band saluted the statue with the hymn A Maria Assunta, composed for the occasion by Mro Vincenzo Carabott. The statue was then paraded along the streets of Victoria and at the end raised on a plinth at It-Tokk. This demonstration with the statue of Santa Marija took place every August 13.

It is believed that from the beginning the committee of the Philharmonic Society hoped that one day the statue would be transferred to the cathedral. The committee increased its pressure after Pope Pius XII, through the Bull Munificentissimus Deus, declared the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven as dogma on November 1, 1950.

Finally, Bishop Joseph Pace acceded to their request. On April 29, 1956, the statue was blessed by bishop Pace in front of a multitude of devotees in Pjazza Savina and then taken up in procession to the cathedral. For the first time that year, the procession in August was held in the evening.