The Maltese people are special

As I write this letter, I am sitting in the lounge of a very nice Valletta hotel reading a Times of Malta leader about Valletta’s cultural heritage.

I am about to take a taxi to Mater Dei Hospital to see my wife who was opera­ted on for a broken leg she sustained in a fall walking a coastal path in northwest Malta.

I was also hurt trying to instigate a rescue, which means on the seat next to me is a pair of crutches, which I need to walk.

The point of bringing your attention to these ‘dark clouds’ that have loured upon the two of us is to highlight the incredible rays of sunshine that have shone upon us in the form of the Maltese people since the incident.

The service at Mater Dei Hospital was excellent. File photo: Times of Malta

From the paramedics, the eight members of CPD who carried my wife off the hillside, the doctors and nurses at Mater Dei and at the Floriana medical centre, taxi drivers, security guards at hospital, local people I have met in the hospital cafe ‒ everyone has been truly wonderful.

So quick to offer help, to have complete empathy as a fellow human being, and, at times, to provide humour, which I can assure you has been much needed.

Although as a ‘holiday’ our visit has been a disaster, for me it been a revelation in terms of how uplifting ‘society’ can be.

I don’t know if there is something in the water but the Maltese people have something very special about them and I think that is something you should work to preserve as you determine how, in economic terms, you decide to move into the future.

Malta, “thank you”. We will be back (when we can both walk again).

Howard and Joanna Cullum – Bristol, England

The feast of the Divine Mercy

For the past 21 years, my family has always spent its two-week Easter holiday break in Malta where we have our second home.

We have also always attended the liturgical services held at St Patrick’s church, in Sliema.

This year, we were extremely disappointed because the great feast of the Divine Mercy, instituted by Pope St John Paul II and which is celebrated with great devotion throughout the Catholic Church, was completely ignored on the lame pretext that “this is not a Salesian devotion”.

Pope Francis and Malta’s archbishop think differently.

For the last 18 years or so, Fr Joe Cini, a previous and much-beloved chaplain, did not have any problems at all.

This service is usually and mainly conducted by the laity. The priest’s part is to bring out the sacred host for exposition and veneration and to impart the sacramental blessing at the conclusion of the service.

Alas, that evening it was not to be.

The congregation departed the service completely unfulfilled,

Dermot and Maura O’Callaghan – County Wicklow, Ireland