The reliquary of the Weeping Madonna venerated at Sanctuary of the Madonna of Tears, in Syracuse, Sicily, was hosted at Xagħra parish church from Palm Sunday to the following Tuesday.

The reliquary visited Xagħra parish also on two other occasions – at the turn of the millennium and on the 100th anniversary of the consecration of the parish church.

The reliquary drew many devotees to the basilica where they prayed in silence or in groups. Sanctuary rector, Don Raffaele Aprile, took the reliquary to several homes of the elderly.

On April 12, the reliquary was carried in procession along the statue of the Crucifixion by famous artist Luigi Guacci of Lecce.

Leading the procession were Don Raffaele, Xagħra archpriest Carmelo Refalo and Żejtun archpriest Nicholas Pace.

Members of the confraternity of Our Lady of Consolation (Taċ-Ċintura) of Żejtun and Xagħra confraternities also took part.

The reliquary consists of an urn which holds the phial in which the now crystallised tears, which underwent chemical analysis, are kept.

The reliquary is the heart of the Syracuse shrine because it contains the indisputable evidence of the event – the tears of Mary.