On the morning of Easter Monday, Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish church, Gżira – still decorated with flowers for the Holy Week and Easter Sunday – was full with a congregation of family members, relatives and friends, offering their prayers for the eternal repose of our dear friend Agnes. Parish priest Fr Gordon Refalo concelebrated the mass.
Agnes SammutAgnes was an ordinary woman – no blue blood, no high place in society – but at the same time an extraordinary woman with a charismatic, strong character.
She was the daughter of Pietru Pawl and MariĠwan, who brought her up a staunch Catholic, in the parish of the Assumption of Our Lady, in Victoria. From her youth she nurtured a lovable, bubbly character, with a passion for life.
After her GCEs, she undertook the two-year teacher training course at Mater Admirabilis Training College, became a teacher and lived her career conscientiously dedicated to teaching.
In Malta, she met and married another teacher, Alfred Sammut, from Gżira, where they settled. She was also welcomed and loved by Alfred’s parents, Paul and Carmelina.
She loved and was extraordinarily proud of Alfred, who she devotedly cared for, adored and held in high esteem, and lovingly respected as a faithful husband. Later in life our families met and became great friends.
She was a wonderful wife with a taste for home décor and she used to cook delicious dishes, which the parish priest was often invited to share.
She was a loving and caring mother – an exemplary Catholic mother for Marika and Karl.
She used to be in seventh heaven when, together with Alfred, she met her grandchildren Benjamin, Nicholas, Timothy, and Maximilian.
And she loved meeting friends.
These last few years, Agnes was affectionately and consistently being cared for. Although she still carried her captivating, radiant smile, the graceful expression in her eyes, and the ever youthful look that she had throughout her life, her health became poorly.
During these difficult times, Alfred never failed to live up to the occasion; he unconditionally and lovingly helped Agnes cope with a severe illness that eventually led to her passing away, aged 76, on March 30.
Dear Agnes, Alfred, your children, grandchildren and relatives, and we all will miss you dearly.
May Christ – in whom you believed – and whose resurrection we celebrated on the morrow of your demise, lead you to him, in eternal life.
My wife Irma and I convey our deepest condolences to Alfred, Marika, Karl and his wife Svetlana, and all the family.
Joe Zammit Ciantar