Victoria Cathedral through time

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Charles R. Cassar, Stones of Faith. Tombstones, Funerary Rites, and Customs at the Gozo Matrice, Midsea Books; Malta 2012, 204 pp

This book is another milestone in the history of the Church in Gozo for the simple reason that it is not just a narration or analysis of a particular phase in the annals of the Gozitan church, but rather a scholarly piece of work that attempts to help readers plan their next visit to the Gozo Cathedral with a greater sense of awe and appreciation.

The speciality of the book lies in its very subject. Charles Cassar of Victoria has been studying the stone-slabs that enrich the splendid floor of the matrice church of Gozo, thus bringing to life every inch they cover.

It has to be said that until lately, the stone slabs of the Cathedral Church have not been the subject of a focused study. This does not mean that nothing has ever been written about them; on the contrary Cassar provides the interested reader with a great amount of bibliographical notes after each chapter of his book.

I have no doubt that I will see it referred to in scholarly papers and Melitensia publications in the near future

However, it would be fair to say that Stones of Faith is the first systematic analysis of these stone slabs. Of course, what I have just stated applies only to Gozo since the theme had been the subject of a researched study regarding the Conventual Church of the Knights in Valletta.

In his fascinating book Memento Mori, researcher Dane Munro transcribed, edited and even translated the inscriptions of the tombstones of the Order into English.

However, Cassar’s book has an entirely different aim from Munro’s book. In fact, the author states quite plainly in the preface that “not being versed in the classical languages, it would have been presumptuous on my part to attempt to translate these inscriptions into English, as such translations require a methodical approach in epigraphy and a thorough knowledge of the different inflections of the Latin language”.

Even without such an accompanying translation, Stones of Faith makes for interesting reading. Strictly speaking, Cassar had, perhaps without intending it, laid the table for any researcher who would like to take into consideration the translation and annotation of the afore-mentioned slabs.

The book should be of interest to both the general reader and the history student. History is, however, quite a general term and it does have its various connected branches. Epigraphy and heraldry are two such arms. The lover of coat-of-arms and crests could easily feast his eyes on this book.

In Gozo, where local noble families were never in their dozens, it was the church which provided the possibility of flaunting heraldry to its advantage.

As to those who might have developed a special fancy for the macabre, Stones of Faith is a must. The reader should not forget that in the Catholic Church, parish churches served as cemeteries from time immemorial and it was only the civil law that forbade such use of sacred places through the prohibition of October 1974.

The entire book makes for interesting reading; once you begin reading it, it is difficult to put it away. Chapter five is one of the most enticing, providing a couple of curiosities about some particular tombstones.

The glossary in the first appendix is very helpful especially to the beginner. The second appendix would be of interest mostly to the researcher.

The book has definitely proved itself unique in the fact that it provides between its two hardbound arms the first ever photographic collection of the entire stone-slabs of the Gozo Cathedral and one has to remember that is no coffee-book.

I would suggest to those who have the history of Gozo at heart to obtain a copy of this publication. I have no doubt that I will see it referred to in scholarly papers and Melitensia publications in the near future since it has focused on a theme which has until lately been abandoned on the side road of history.