Valletta Our Lady of Sorrows procession cancelled due to unstable weather

Updated: 6.34pm

Unstable weather conditions and intermittent rain has led to the cancellation of the Our Lady of Sorrows procession in Valletta on Friday afternoon.

The announcement came in just a few minutes before the procession was scheduled to begin at 6pm from the Church of Santa Marija ta’ Ġesù (Ta’ Ġieżu).

Two hours before, the Franciscan friars had said the procession would go ahead as planned.

However, the “unstable weather” led them to take a “difficult decision” to cancel the much awaited devotional procession.

“This decision, although a difficult one, was taken to ensure safety and to protect the beloved statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, cherished by all Maltese,” they said.

Instead of the pilgrimage, prayers and the Rosary will be said inside the church followed by the normal Mass as planned.

This is not the first time that bad weather forced the cancellation of the procession. In 2018 the traditional pilgrimage through the streets of Valletta was postponed to the following Sunday due to the weather conditions that day.

In 2020 and 2021, all Holy Week processions had to be cancelled because of COVID-19.

Rain did not hold back the procession in Cospicua. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Meanwhile some processions in other localities on Friday went ahead, despite the rain. 

The Collegiate Church of the Immaculate Conception in Cospicua was among those that decided to hold the procession even though it had been raining until just a few minutes before the statue left the church.

The Meteorological Office had warned of unstable weather over the weekend with strong West Northwesterly winds expected and occasional showers. The winds were forecast to strengthen to the point that an orange weather warning was issued on Thursday evening.