Record 'bid' for privilege of bearing statue in Mgarr

As noon struck yesterday, the hearts of a large crowd of Mgarr residents missed a collective beat as bidding started for the privilege of acting as a statue bearer in the village feast last night.

Like the other small village of Dingli, Mgarr celebrates the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady on the first Sunday after August 15 - the when seven other towns and villages celebrate Santa Marija, as the feast is popularly known.

Nearly the whole of the village was yesterday assembled by the side of the church - in the shade for protection against the midday sun - to see the winning bid reach the record sum of Lm4,600.

The record is broken every year, with the highest bid last year reaching Lm4,200 and the year before Lm3,000.

The pulsating event, which the parishioners eagerly await for a whole year, is over within a couple of nail-biting minutes.

Yesterday there were four groups of bidders who, under the keen gaze of the crowd, announced their bids in turn hoping to edge the others out of the running.

The bidding started quite tamely at Lm500. But it shot up immediately to Lm2,000 with an offer from Wistin Vella, whose group eventually outbid the others.

Just for the record, the 'shouts' went like this: Lm550; Lm2,000; Lm3,000; Lm3,100; Lm3,500; Lm4,000; Lm4,500 and Lm4,600.

There was exceptional emotion at this year's auction as the team of bearers led by Mr Vella included Matthew Schembri, whose father Joe was among the successful bidders last year but who passed away in his late 40s recently.

The newly appointed parish priest, Fr Joe Fsadni, recalled Joe Schembri in a short introduction after he recited the Angelus with the crowd.

On the mention of Mr Schembri's name, the crowd burst into applause.

The tradition of bidding for the honour of carrying the statue goes back to 1922 when the parishioners then were told that whoever donated money for the purchase of the statue of the Madonna would have the right to be among the bearers that year. The statue was ordered from Marseilles in France through an agent in Valletta.

Nowadays, the money raised by the statue bearers goes towards the restoration and upkeep of the church.

There are eight bearers and four others who each hold one of four forcini, the wooden pole with a metal fork at one end, used to support the statue - two at each side - whenever the bearers stop for a breather.

Fr Fsadni took exception to the use of the word 'auction' by the media, saying the word was used by other parishioners in neighbouring towns to taunt the Mgarrin. He argued that the proper word to use was an 'offering'.