The feast of St Andrew, patron saint of Fontana, will be celebrated on Sunday. Fr Joseph Attard will lead the triduum until Friday. The liturgical feast of St Andrew will be celebrated on Saturday, with a short procession with the relic of the saint at 5.40pm, followed by High Mass celebrated by parish priest Simon Mario Cachia.
Fontana local council will mark Jum il-Fontana with a commemorative evening at the community hall at 7pm.
On Sunday, Bishop Anton Teuma will celebrate Pontifical Mass at 3.45pm with the participation of the Chorus Urbanus. The procession with the statue of the saint will start at 4.45pm. The Precursor Band of Xewkija will accompany the statue of St Andrew, the work of Karlu Mallia.
The fishermen based in Xlendi, most of whom lived in Fontana, had very much desired that their parish church be dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle, patron saint of fishermen, according to the book Fontana u Ġrajjietha by Mgr Dr Joseph Bezzina.
But Bishop Giovanni-Marija Camilleri wanted it to be dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To make up for this, on October 8, 1906, this same bishop issued a decree through which he founded the Confraternity of St Andrew, attracting fishermen not only from Fontana, but also others based in other fishing villages.
The confraternity soon started to raise money for a statue of the apostle. The lion’s share of the offerings came from Vincenza Pace, a great devotee of the saint.
The statue, commissioned to Mallia, of Qormi, was finished in time for the feast in 1909, when it was taken out in procession for the first time.
Fontana parish church, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, stands testament to the devotion of a humble community. It was meticulously constructed and adorned by a small group of dedicated fishermen and their families, who contributed a portion of their hard-earned income each month and dedicated countless hours of voluntary manual labour.
The titular feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated in June, while the feast of St Andrew, the patron of the parish and beloved protector of fishermen, is observed on the Sunday nearest to November 30, the liturgical feast of the saint.