After the success of the first edition of Lumen Ecclesiae, the Għaqda Armar San Ġorġ Martri is holding a second edition of the exhibition, this time entitled Sancti Padri. The statues on display represent the Fathers of the Church ‒ saints who were influential theologians, bishops or scholars whose writings explained key Scriptural principles in the early Church.
The exhibition, open until Saturday, November 9, is being held at the La Stella Philharmonic Society Band Club in Victoria.
On show is one of the most beautiful sets of street statues of the Holy Fathers by Gozitan sculptor Wistin Camilleri, which adorn Republic Street in Victoria during the feast of St George. The statues were completed in 1913.
The set represents St Thomas Aquinas, St Vincent Ferrer, St Peter Damian, St Basil the Great, St John Chrysostom, St Andrew of Crete, St Augustine, St Ambrose, St Germain of Paris and St Gregory the Great.
All these saints wrote about St George and were influential in spreading devotion to the saint.
During the years in which the feast of St George was not celebrated, between 1968 and 1975, the statues were stored in a room at the band club. Two of the statues, that of St John Chrysostom and St Germain of Paris, which were placed against a damp wall, became rotten and were lost for ever. Photos of these two statues were also lost. In 1979, Wistin’s son, Michael Camilleri Cauchi, replaced these two statues.
Another statue on display is that of Pope St Zachary I, who carried in translation the head of St George to the Basilica of the Velabro in Rome. This imposing statue, also a papier-mâché work by Wistin Camilleri made in 1922, was erected in Independence Square, in front of the statue of St George.
All these saints wrote about St George and were influential in spreading devotion to the saint
During the war and during the years until the beginning of the 1980s, the statue suffered great damage and was kept indoors. It came out again in 1980 after repairs were carried out on it.
In olden days, the Banda La Stella used to accompany this statue during a morning march known as Ta’ Te Deum on the eve of the feast of St George. At the end of the march, the statue was raised on a pedestal in Independence Square.
Talk on Wistin Camilleri
Today, November 2, Wistin’s sons will take part in a discussion on Wistin Camilleri to be held at the band club at 10am. Admission is free.
As part of the exhibition, the Għaqda Armar San Ġorġ Martri is publishing the second volume in the Lumen Ecclesiae series.