On July 16, during a solemn ecumenical service at St George’s Basilica, in Victoria, within the context of the titular feast of St George, the decorative art on the neo-Byzantine chapel of the Blessed Sacrament was inaugurated.

The project can be aptly called ‘the project between two Jubilees’, since it was begun after the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 and came to its end as we approach the ‘Jubilee of Hope’ of the year 2025. All the decorations and sacred art in this neo-Byzantine chapel can now be enjoyed by one and all.

During the celebration, the Blessed Sacrament was solemnly transported into the chapel, where it will now remain.

It was Archpriest Ġużeppi Farrugia who, at the beginning of the third millennium of Christianity, gave birth to this extraordinary and ambitious project as a perennial memorial of the ‘Great Jubilee of the Incarnation’ and the 17th centenary of the martyrdom of St George.

The first stone was laid on April 23, 2002, liturgical solemnity of St George, by the then Bishop of Gozo, Mgr Nikol Ġ. Cauchi, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of his ordination to priesthood. The main structure was ready approximately two years later and it was then dedicated to the Holy Crucifix, the Blessed Sacrament and the Divine Mercy.

Why neo-Byzantine?

The architectural style chosen for the project – neo-Byzantine – was meant to emphasise the bond the parish community of St George enjoys with the oriental Church, which has venerated from time immemorial the great Easter martyr saint, St George Megalomartyr. This bond is expressed in the potential reality that the cult of the martyr-saint in Gozo could have been introduced to the island during the Byzantine era (the Maltese islands were under Byzantine rule during the 6th century). The martyr is also revered as a patron saint of Gozo.

For many years, the chapel, designed by Maltese architect Vincent Centorrino, could be admired in its pristine structure built in the local globigerina limestone, during which period the Blessed Sacrament was already present for adoration.

Both the faithful as well as visitors could admire the 19th-century crucifix while praying before the Blessed Sacrament, which was kept in a silver tabernacle, unique in its design and evoking the ancient pyx that was found hidden within the façade of the basilica in the 19th century. The pyx is today exposed at the Cathedral Museum in the Citadel. The Eucharist was put in the tabernacle for the first time in 2007.

The chapel's ceiling

It was then through the effort of the present archpriest, Mgr Joseph Curmi, that the project that was initiated 22 years ago came to its actual completion. On Holy Thursday 2021, the contract between St George’s parish and the company chosen to decorate the chapel was signed. The name of the late Mgr Carmelo Scicluna, in many ways the main benefactor of the chapel, had added to it a long list of benefactors who forked out the money necessary to fund the project.

The Romanian sacred art company Mozaicon worked relentlessly for the last two years and three months to embellish the chapel with mosaic in the Byzantine style. The chapel was transformed into a spiritual garden, a treasure of liturgical and theological arts, where everything ‘sings’ the scriptural words: “Holy, Holy, Holy!”.

It is impossible to mention all the workers, helpers and volunteers who collaborated in this project. The work did not consist only in the delicate placing of mosaic but included also work in stone and marble. The cosmatesque floor, together with the gilding process and the adaptation of light effects, bring out the beauty of the art of mosaic in general.

Solemn celebration

The solemn Ecumenical celebration of July 16 was presided by Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod. The other participants Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma; the Apostolic Nuncio for Malta, Savio Hon-Thai Fai, SDB; the Apostolic Nunzio for Morocco, Mgr Alfred Xuereb; and Archbishop Emeritus Mgr Paul Cremona, OP.

Representatives of other Christian Churches in Malta were also present: parish priest Andreas Kravchenko as a representative of Archimandrite Nikolaos Gongazde of the Greek Orthodox Church; Papas George-Alexandru Popescu of the Romanian Orthodox Church; and Can. David Wright, Chancellor of the Pro-Cathedral of St Paul, representing the Anglican Communion. Archpriest Mgr Joseph Sultana represented the cathedral parish and chapter. There were also members of St George’s collegiate and parish clergy.

A detail of the mosaic work

The Vespers for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi was sung, including readings from the early Church fathers about the Eucharist. Then a solemn procession with the Blessed Sacrament carried by Bishop Teuma took place. It was accompanied by the La Stella Band and various categories of the parish were represented, while Eucharistic hymns were sung.

Laurel wreaths carried during the procession were then placed at the foot of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel. The procession came to an end in St George’s Square with the consecration of the entire community to the Blessed Sacrament.

Present for the entire celebration were artists and iconographers from Romania, Alex and Anca Costenco, who for the last couple of years lived at the heart of the parish community, in an environment of prayer and work, as they put together the hundreds of mosaic pieces adorning the chapel.

But besides admiring the artistic masterpiece − being the only chapel of its kind in the Maltese archipelago – visitors are also able to worship and adore through silent prayer or contemplation the divine Eucharistic presence for which the chapel was built in the first place and give to God the honour and glory that are His due.

Visitors are able to worship and adore through silent prayer or contemplation the divine Eucharistic presence.