After more than 30 years locked up in its niche, the artistic wooden statue of Our Lady of the Girdle (Madonna taċ-Ċintura) of Luqa will be carried once again in solemn procession on Sunday morning.
The locality is currently celebrating the 300th anniversary celebrations since the foundation of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Consolation, popularly known as Our Lady of the Girdle.
Devotion towards the Blessed Girdle can be traced back to early Christianity, whereby tradition has it that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave her Holy Girdle to St Thomas the Apostle during her assumption to heaven.
The Confraternity of Our Lady of the Girdle in Luqa is one of the earliest confraternities founded in Malta. It dates back to the beginning of the 18th century, following those in Valletta and Rabat, through the help of the Augustinian friars.
The Blessed Virgin of the Girdle is venerated as the special patron of the Augustinian Order and its feast is celebrated annually on September 4. Among other parishes devoted to the Blessed Girdle are those of Gudja, Qrendi, Cospicua, Vittoriosa, Attard, Siġġiewi, Mosta, Birkirkara and Qormi (St George’s parish church).
Foundation of the confraternity in 1719
Manuscripts at the Archbishop’s Curia Archives in Floriana show that on the June 12, 1719, Bishop Canaves accepted the request of Fr Gio Domenico Stellini, parish priest Fr Ignatio Agius and the members of the Terz’ordine Agostiniano for the foundation of the Confraternity of Our Lady of the Girdle at Luqa parish church.
The statue of the Blessed Virgin in the early 20th centuryThe inauguration ceremony was held almost a year later on April 28, 1720, and was led by the parish priest Rev. Don Ignatio Agius, assisted by Rev. Antonio Mifsud OSA.
At that time, Luqa parish church did not have an altar dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of the Girdle, so the inauguration took place on the altar of St Michael.
Fr Gio Domenico Stellini, together with other members of the Terz’ordine Agostiniano, commissioned a small painting of the Blessed Virgin of the Girdle together with St Monica and St Augustine, which is commonly accepted as the first devotional effigy of the Virgin Mary of the Girdle in Luqa.
The first years
The first solemn feast in honour of the Blessed Virgin of the Girdle was held in 1720. Devotion continued to grow and the confraternity decided to acquire one of the church’s existing altars.
In September 1727, Gio Domencio Zammit and Giuseppe Mifsud, both members of the confraternity, sent a request to the Bishop of Malta to acquire the altar of the Holy Trinity and change its title to be used by the Confraternity of the Blessed Girdle.
These last few years have witnessed a revival of old traditions in Luqa and new ideas have been introduced
Following the granting of permission by the local Church authorities, renowned artist Enrico Arnaud was commissioned to create a new painting of the Blessed Virgin of the Girdle.
This new effigy was ready in time for the 1728 feast. Showing the Blessed Virgin holding Jesus Christ, together with the Holy Trinity and saints Monica, Augustine, Roque and Francis of Paola, this painting still adorns Luqa parish church today.
One of the last external festivities with the participation of the L’Unione Philharmonic SocietyArtistic embellishment during the 20th century
In 1875, the Confraternity of the Blessed Girdle asked the Confraternity of the Blessed Rosary for permission to use its statue of the Blessed Virgin for its annual feast. They were allowed to do so after splitting the costs of the renovation of the statue, a job entrusted to Giuseppe Calì.
The wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin then started being used for three separate Marian feasts in Luqa: the Blessed Girdle, for which an external feast was organised by its confraternity, the Blessed Rosary, for which a devotional pilgrimage was organised by its confraternity, and also the Blessed Rose, which was introduced later on but which did not last long.
Bozzetto for the new painting by Enrico ArnaudThe author of this wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin is unknown. It was sculpted during the late 17th century and is seemingly influenced by the effigy of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary by Melchiorre Gafà found at the Dominican church in Rabat.
Later on, in 1917, the statue of the Blessed Virgin was renovated once again and gilded by Francesco Coleiro of Valletta.
A new stellario plated in gold was donated, together with the bradella and bankun which were brought from the Collegiate Church of the Immaculate Conception of Cospicua. All costs were once again divided equally between the two confraternities.
In the early 1990s, artist Alfred Camilleri Cauchi repainted the statue once again.
Over the years, the confraternity commissioned Emmanuele Buhagiar to create a new standard banner with gold embroidery, together with silver candlesticks and other silver ornaments used by the members of the confraternity during the feast of the Blessed Virgin.
In December 1911, Giuseppe Borg contributed towards the new marble design that covered the whole altar. Other members of the confraternity, including Giuseppe Galea among others, also contributed in other ways, including a new set of statuettes showing Augustinian saints and padres made in cartapesta leccesa, together with a set of six large papier-mâché statuettes by Gozitan artist Agostino Camilleri showing the primary apostles.
Meanwhile, the liturgical celebrations in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary also moved forward during the first half of the 20th century. The parish church was decorated as permissible at the time for a secondary feast, while liturgical celebrations were animated with solemn music by Luqa composer Ferdinando Camilleri of the Cappella Camilleri.
The altar of the Blessed Virgin of the Girdle in the late 19th centuryExternal festivities
The external celebrations of the feast have been linked with the L’Unione Philharmonic Society since 1885, when Andrea Sammut was elected as curator of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin of the Girdle.
However, the first band to participate in the feast of the Blessed Girdle was the Filarmonica Sant’Andrea in 1884. At that time, the curator of the confraternity was Giuseppe Micallef, who also served as president of the club.
However, this move was not accepted at all by the parishioner and the members of the confraternity, and led to the resignation of Micallef as curator to pave way for Andrea Sammut, who introduced the Filarmonica L’Unione a year later.
From then onwards, the L’Unione Philharmonic took part on its own in the external festivities in honour of the Blessed Virgin of the Girdle. It took its participation in this Marian feast very seriously and played various hymns composed by composers Gavino and Ferdinando Camilleri.
Later on, Orlando Crescimanno and Joseph Abela Scolaro also penned separate hymns for the occasion, with the latter obtaining a lot of popularity and praise in the late 1950s when the feast of the Blessed Girdle was still going strong and very popular.
Ground and aerial fireworks were also manufactured by festa enthusiasts, and popular band marches were played on both the eve of the feast day and following the procession late on Sunday.
This year’s feast
External festivities came to an end in the mid-1980s due to a number of unforseen reasons. Liturgical celebrations were, however, still held in the parish church.
These last few years have witnessed a revival of old traditions in Luqa and new ideas have been introduced in the community. This was also the case with the feast of the Blessed Virgin, whereby following a number of discussions with the parish priest and members of clergy, it was decided that a devotional pilgrimage with the statue of Our Lady of the Girdle will be held tomorrow at 9.30am.
Special thanks go to the parish priest Can. Michael Zammit, Fr René Camilleri and the local Church authorities, who accepted the special request put forward to them.