Two icons of the Virgin Mary inaugurated last Sunday by the community of Dominican friars in Vittoriosa are on display at the church of the Annunciation and St Dominic where the feast of St Dominic is being celebrated today.

The icons, written by Fr Tonio Mallia Milanes OP, represent the Madonna ‘tal-Kandlora’ (candle) and the Madonna of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. While the former icon will be venerated on the altar of St Dominic, the latter will be on the altar of St Vincent Ferrer.

The icon of the Madonna tal-Kandlora has a historic link with the Dominicans’ church in Vittoriosa as the original icon had been brought over from Rhodes by the Knights of St John in 1530. Unfortunately it was lost when the church was destroyed during an aerial bombardment in 1941 during World War II.

The name of the Madonna tal-Kandlora icon owes its origin to the celebration of the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, during which candles used to be blessed and distributed to the congregation in the church.

During the inauguration of the new icons, a musical concert was held under the direction of Stephen Camilleri, the church’s maestro di cappella, and the patronage of Archbishop Emeritus Paul Cremona OP. During the event community prior Fr Aaron Zahra, together with Fr Mallia Milanes, blessed the icons by marking crosses at the four corners of the icons with holy oil.