In 1662, Senglea-born Don Simone Schembri, together with his companions, obtained permission from Bishop Miguel Balaguer to set up an Oratorian community in his hometown, according to the norms of St Philip Neri’s institute. Eventually, after consulting Senglea’s parish priest Don Francesco Azzopardi, the bishop handed over to the community the church of Our Lady of Porto Salvo and an adjacent house.

March 28, 1662, marked the beginning of the Oratorians of St Philip Neri in Senglea. The first provost was Don Simone Schembri, who was just 28 years old (cf. ‘A tribute to Don Simone Schembri, founder and first provost of Senglea’s Oratorian community’, The Sunday Times of Malta, August 20, 2023).

One of the corridors of St Philip’s convent, Senglea, where Don Francesco Saverio spent his priestly life.

In 1670, the church, originally built in 1596, was demolished. A new church and a monastic complex, including a convent and an oratory, started to be constructed. The whole project was completed in 1749 (cf. ‘St Philip Neri and the Oratorians in Malta’, The Sunday Times of Malta, October 25, 2015).

It is worth highlighting that despite being small in number, and tragic events, such as the 1675-76 plague, which could have easily eradicated the community, the Oratorians still succeeded to give a solid contribution to Senglea’s inhabitants, bringing about educational and cultural change.

In the last quarter of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th, Senglea yielded a man who was feeling the pulse of Malta and substantiated the need for both religious knowledge and the Maltese idiom. This man – who deserves to be better known by those who cherish Maltese – was Francesco Saverio Baldacchino, a wise and honourable priest, the ninth provost of Senglea’s Oratorian community.

Born in Senglea on December 3, 1774, son of Giuseppe and Maria née Fenech, Francesco was baptised by Senglea parish priest Don Salvatore Bonnici at the parish church. He was brought up in a family that had great veneration towards the Immaculate Conception.

Francesco Saverio Baldacchino’s baptismal registration as found in the Senglea parish archives (Vol. X, p. 47).

So much so that, yearly, on December 8, the family held a feast at their home in her honour. For that occasion, the family had a statue of Our Lady carved in wood, brought from Spain by Giuseppe Fenech from Tarxien, Francesco Saverio’s maternal grandfather. Francesco himself recorded that, in 1786, at the age of 12, he delivered his first ‘sermon’ in front of the said statue, when the feast was being celebrated within the family.

He kept a record of all sermons delivered, his activities and of important events in convent life

The Christian upbringing he received from his parents led him to the seminary where he prepared himself for the priesthood. When Francesco Saverio was a subdeacon, he was already a member of the Senglea Oratorian community.

Even though information about his academic formation is scant, it is believed that, before 1794, he received a degree in theology. Most probably, when he joined the Oratorians, he was sent to study in Palermo or in Rome. He was ordained priest on December 23, 1797, and celebrated his first solemn high mass on Christmas Eve in the Oratory’s church.

The statue of the Immaculate Conception that Giuseppe Fenech, Francesco Saverio’s maternal grandfather, brought from Spain.

As a priest, Francesco Saverio progressed in his studies. Subsequently, he was one of the examiners for the selection of new parish priests. Such candidates were examined in the teaching of dogma and morals. Some of them possessed degrees in theology. Thus, their examiner needed to also be a graduate. He also preached annual retreats for those who were going to be ordained priests, and, quite often, accompanied the bishop in pastoral visits held in the parishes of the Maltese diocese.

In November 1825, he was chosen provost of the Oratory at Senglea at a time when the institution was in a critical situation as its community had dwindled and faced extinction. In point of fact, the Status Animarum of the Senglea parish for 1836 shows that at the oratory, there was just one Oratorian, the provost himself.

Don Baldacchino was a renowned preacher. In 1831 and 1832, Bishop Francesco Saverio Caruana nominated him the preacher of Advent and Lent sermons at St Margaret’s monastery in Cospicua.

Being an intellectual and a highly ordinate man, he kept a record of all the sermons delivered, of his various activities and of important events in convent life. He went about his daily chores with great care and commitment, and kept scrupulously detailed records even of herbal medicine concocted in the convent for sick priests, who, as a rule, were cured in the same convent and not sent to hospital.

Fortunately, he recorded and preserved properly whatever he preached and, when he had several sermons on the same subject, he would bind them volume by volume.

The frontispiece of a catalogue of the books held in the library of St Philip’s Convent, compiled by Don Francesco Saverio Baldacchino in 1838.

The library of the Senglea Oratorians comprises 32 volumes of sermons dated between 1798 and 1860. All are written by hand, clear, still legible and highly informative. Knowledgeably based on the Bible and on the teachings of the Holy Fathers, most of these sermons are in Italian, although there are a significant number in Maltese. In the introduction to each sermon, he kept record of the parish, occasion and year when given, so that he would not repeat himself.

He also left a collection of 13 religious poems, which he composed in 1813, when Malta was going through the terrible plague. One of these poems is a dialogue between Jesus and Mary. Jesus tells his mother why he permitted the pestilence, and Mary solicits him to stop the scourge of the plague because she was the mother of the Maltese just as she was his mother. In these poems, he expressed himself in highly idiomatic Maltese prose interlaced with Italian titles.

The first four stanzas of the Canzonetta – a dialogue between Jesus and Mary – written by Don Francesco Saverio Baldacchino in 1813.

Moreover, he compiled a 322-page volume, titled Prattica dei Sacri Riti e Cerimonie nelle Sacre Funzioni che si celebrano nella Settimana Santa, on the liturgical ceremonies of Holy Week, and Miscellania e Lettere, two thick files that include many important documents and letters.

Of particular importance are the three volumes of Memorie Diverse. These volumes, of 300, 542 and 446 pages respectively, include his diary, containing a wealth of information about the history of the Church in Malta. The diary itself narrates the eventful 50 years or so referring to the last days of the Order of St John, the French occupation and the early years of British rule in Malta. In the Memorie, he goes into great detail, describing the 1813 plague and the medicine prescribed for its cure. The volumes also contain inventories of furniture and convent possessions, church belongings, prayers recited at mass, and a record of every book kept in the library. (cf. ‘Echoes of a library of historical and linguistic treasures in Senglea’, The Sunday Times of Malta, October 22, 2023).

In 1837, cholera struck the island with such a force that St Philip’s convent and church in Senglea had to serve as a hospital for cases found in the Three Cities of Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua. Don Baldacchino, being the provost of the house, kept a record of this extraordinary event.

In the introduction to his sermons, Don Baldacchino recorded the parish, occasion and year where and when the particular sermon was delivered. This is a typical example.

Some letters written by or addressed to him, gathered in these Memorie, are of historical value. Among others, from a letter sent by Baldacchino to Archbishop Francesco Saverio Caruana, we find out that the house of St Philip was also used as a reformatory for some Maltese and Gozitan priests after certain misconducts. From a copy of another letter of his, we deduct that the Oratorians sponsored a number of poor Maltese children to study in Palermo.

Throughout his term as provost, he tried to reorganise life in the oratory, and promote a revival in its liturgical and devotional approach.

A rescript dated September 11, 1829, authorised him to set up in the oratory’s church the Via Sagra, then formally established on September 18, 1831.

He was successful in enriching the church of Our Lady of Porto Salvo with the corpo santo of two saints.

The first acquisition involved the remains of St Placidus, which reached their destination on November 23, 1843; the other involved the remains of St Celestine, which were brought to Senglea from St Hermes’ Catacomb, in Rome, on November 23, 1845.

Later in life, his eyesight deteriorated, and unfortunately, his manuscripts became messy and confused. Due to this condition, he requested permission to celebrate only Our Lady’s mass. This concession was granted on May 27, 1848, and since, after a few years, he was almost completely blind, another pontifical indult dated March 15, 1852, allowed him to say the said mass on all days even when feasts of double rite were celebrated. Moreover, he was permitted to celebrate the mass for the deceased on all other days.

In 1855, besides requesting the renewal of the said concessions, he sought to be allowed to celebrate mass in a private oratory with the assistance of a fellow priest. On May 29, a favourable vote for these concessions was granted. Due to these precarious situations, Don Baldacchino tendered his resignation from the office of provost on August 27, 1857. He was succeeded by Senglea-born Canon Don Salvatore Gaffiero, who, in 1899, became Malta’s auxiliary bishop and vicar general.

Don Baldacchino died on November 18, 1860. He was buried in the church of Our Lady of Porto Salvo, Senglea, together with the members of the Congregation of St Philip Neri, who had a vault under the altar of St Philip to be buried in.