Marking the 143rd anniversary of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu manifestation
Celebrations to be broadcast live today on UTV, Radju Marija and Gozo diocese and Ta’ Pinu sanctuary social media pages
The 143rd anniversary of the manifestation of the Blessed Virgin to Karmni Grima is being marked today, Monday, June 22. Masses will be said at 6am, 7.30 and 11am. Bishop George Bugeja, OFM, will lead a pontifical mass at 9am. After mass, Mgr Bugeja will intone the Supplication to Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu, followed by the Te Deum.
Għarb archpriest Mgr Trevor Sultana will celebrate mass, together with the collegiate chapter, at 6.30pm. The Għarb parish Hebron Choir, under the direction of Mro Antoine Mercieca, will take part. Rosary aux flambeaux for peace in the world will be recited by Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary vicar Carmelo Gauci at the sanctuary square at 7.30pm, followed by the singing of the Salve Regina and Holy Eucharist benediction.
In a book, entitled Santa Marija ta’ Gentile, Gozo, historian Mgr Joseph Bezzina traces the foundation of the tiny chapel known to locals as Santa Marija ta’ Gentile by the Calimera family of Gozo to around 1402. Like similar chapels around Gozo, the chapel was in a state of dilapidation. Early in the 17th century, the chapel passed under the care of Pinu Gauci, who in 1619, donated the Assumption altarpiece. From then onwards, the chapel became known as Ta’ Pinu. Up to 1883, it was another wayside chapel with a few devotees from the neighbourhood.
On June 22 of that year, Grima, a peasant spinster who had fields close to the chapel, received a mysterious call saying: “Recite three Hail Marys in honour of the three days that my body rested in the tomb.” This secret was revealed two and a half years later, when a woman was miraculously cured after invoking the Virgin Mary of Ta’ Pinu. By the beginning of 1887, several pilgrimages were organised to the chapel, covering its four walls with ex-votos.
The ecclesiastical authorities, very cautious at first, heeded the message of the Virgin Mary and decided to build a shrine adjoining the old chapel that was to remain intact. The foundation stone was laid on May 30, 1920, and consecrated on December 13, 1931.
Another important figure who was instrumental in spreading devotion to Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu was Franġisk Portelli of Għarb. He confirmed under oath that around 1883 he had received special messages from the Virgin Lady of Ta’ Pinu.
On six occasions he had heard a voice coming from the holy picture of the Virgin Lady asking him to encourage a special devotion to the hidden wound of her beloved son – the wound caused by the weight of the cross on his shoulders.
Portelli, who was a member of the lay Third Order of the Franciscan Capuchins, died on February 4, 1926, aged 75.
Today’s celebrations will be broadcast live on UTV, Radju Marija (102.3FM) and the Gozo diocese and Ta’ Pinu sanctuary social media pages.