Għarb Local Council recently honoured ‘Servant of the Lord’ Franġisk Portelli with a commemorative plaque and flowers which were placed in front of his house.

The council had also placed a formal request to the Planning Authority to give protection to Portelli’s house. In fact, the property has now scheduled as a Grade 2 building for its cultural, social and architecural value.

Portelli, of Għarb, confirmed under oath that (around 1883) he had received special messages from the Virgin Lady of Ta’ Pinu.

On six occasions he had heard a voice coming from the holy picture of the Virgin Lady asking him to encourage a special devotion to the hidden wound of Her beloved Son – the wound caused by the weight of the cross on his shoulders.

Portelli grew up tending the animals on the family’s farm and working in the fields. He was a member of the lay Third Order of the Franciscan Capuchins.

Portelli died on February 4, 1926, aged 75. A bronze monument in honour of Portelli was later unveiled at the Ta’ Pinu public garden by the late Bishop Nikol Cauchi.

The monument was cast in bronze at the Domus Dei of Rome based on the original plaster model by Alfred Camilleri Cauchi.