This Friday, October 15, marks the 150th anniversary of a momentous event in the life of the Catholic community of Mosta as it commemorates the solemn dedication of its iconic parish church, better known as the Mosta Rotunda.

The rite of dedication dates to the fourth century when Christians were bestowed with the right of freedom of worship and Emperor Constantine embarked on his ambitious ecclesiastical building programme. Writings by church historian Bishop Eusebius of Cesarea (AD 260-341) attest to the dedication of the church in Tyre around the years AD 316-319, during which he delivered a landmark panegyric at the invitation of local Bishop Paulinus.

In his Epistula 22, Ambrose (AD 337-397) provides further documentary evidence of a seemingly more elaborate dedication rite of a newly built basilica in Milan, which set importance to the translation and deposition of relics. In AD 494, Pope Gelasius determined that all churches were to be properly dedicated. Moreover, he specifically forbade the celebration of the Eucharist in churches in which such a rite had not been celebrated.

By the 10th century, the dedication rite evolved from a celebration of the Eucharist to a long, elaborate and formal liturgical ritual, containing numerous blessings and exorcisms as well as the veneration and deposition of relics. The celebration of mass was now seen as complimentary and a conclusion, rather than the central focus of this important liturgical event. The rite remained largely unchanged even after the Council of Trent, until the promulgation of the Ordo Dedicationis Ecclesiae et Altaris in 1977.

This sesquicentennial anniversary celebration in Mosta takes us back to the year 1871. Malta then had a much smaller popu­lation of 141,775, characterised by a high average annual mortality rate (28.3 per 1,000 in the preceding 10 years), largely due to a severe epidemic of cholera in 1865 and outbreaks of smallpox (1870-1871) and diphtheria (1869-1870).

Mosta’s population in 1861 had been estimated at 3,828 villagers. It was essentially a farming community, illiteracy being rampant, but interestingly included 400 women engaging in spinning and weaving, and 23 members of the clergy. The 1837 Royal Commission had reported that only 20 local farmers were actually landowners, while 200 toiled on leased fields.

Mosta was among the poorest villages in the archipelago

Mosta was considered among the poorest villages in the Maltese archipelago. Suffice to say that shortly before 1837, four local paupers had starved to death. It is indeed remarkable that this small village, largely inhabited by poorly educated and frugal albeit industrious villagers bereft of major com­modities, embarked on a gigantic building project which endowed the island with a monumental edifice for years to come. Tributes are due to the foresight and undisputed engineering expertise of its architect Giorgio Grognet de Vassé and talented master stonemason Angelo Gatt of Żejtun.

Architect Giorgio Grognet de VasséArchitect Giorgio Grognet de Vassé

It is also noteworthy to acknowledge the ambitious and ever generous parish priests Don Feliċ Calleja and Don Ġammari Schembri. The former is credited with enthusing his faithful flock even before this project had been contemplated, and his legacy of 8,423 scudi serving as invaluable early funds for its construction. His indefatigable and worthy successor Don Ġammari Schembri also contributed to and led this arduous construction project virtually to its end, until his death on September 28, 1859, a few months before its completion.

It is estimated that the church cost £21,000 – an astounding sum which presumably needed to be settled before contemplating its formal dedication. Construction costs would have been much higher had it not been for the voluntary work of the men, women and children who toiled on a daily basis, Sundays and public holidays included, easing the stonemasons’ work by performing diverse jobs such as fetching stone from Durumblat quarry near Torre Cumbo and preparing lime mortar.

Master stonemason Angelo GattMaster stonemason Angelo Gatt

Having completed this building project over a span of 27 years, the Mostin proceeded with the dismantling of their old parish church (standing within the rotunda) and its blessing by its parish priest Don Antonio Mallia on February 16, 1860. Bishop Gaetano Pace Forno was invited to intone a solemn hymn of thanksgiving (Te Deum) on March 11 of the same year. The Mostin embarked on several embellishment projects soon after, including the installation of new paintings and bells, dictated by available finances. Soon, they set sight on the formal dedication of their precious edifice, an event that was to unfold on October 15, 1871. This was meant to perpetually and exclusively seal this building’s destiny to divine worship, the worthy celebration of the sacraments, and a sign and symbol of the faithful’s heavenly destiny.

Parish priest Don Feliċ CallejaParish priest Don Feliċ Calleja

Valuable information on events unfolding in Mosta on this occasion can be accessed from the records (Acta Civilia) of the Chancellor of the Bishop’s Curia Don Manwel Corsini. Saturday, October 14, 1871, had been designated a day of fasting for all local parishioners. Parish priest Mallia placed the holy relics of the martyr saints Cosma and Damian, Sebastian and Fabian on the altar adorning one of the two sacristies of the rotunda. These relics had been sealed in a box made of pewter. This process set forth a prayer vigil that lasted the whole night and included the solemn celebration of the Holy Hours (Matins at night and Lauds early the following morning).

Bishop of Malta Gaetano Pace Forno left his Episcopal Palace in Valletta at 7am on Sunday, October 15, the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, on his way to Mosta on a carriage drawn by four horses. He was accompanied by two canons of the Cathedral Chapter ‒ Don Kalċidon Falzon and Don Feliċ Cutajar  ‒  and his master of ceremonies Don Ġwann Muscat. Upon arrival, Mgr Pace Forno enrobed his pontifical vestments in the church sacristy, where he recited the penitential psalms in accordance with the rubrics of the Roman pontifical.

Parish priest Don Ġammari SchembriParish priest Don Ġammari Schembri

Don Manwel Corsini documents that Bishop Pace Forno left the church in procession with the clergy, delivered a homily in front of its main door and subsequently proceeded inside to dedicate the church and its main altar, in which he sealed the aforementioned relics. Work on this new altar had been completed just a few months earlier in February 1871 by the Sicilian marmists Salvatore Marino and Stefano Mazzaglia. Endowed with fine marbles, such as verde antico and giallo di Siena, and characterised by a simple albeit dignified design, it had cost 750 ounces of silver, equivalent to 4,687 scudi.

Don Manwel Corsini specifies that the dedication ceremony was followed by the mass, led by the bishop himself, assisted by the master of ceremonies and in the presence of Don Girolamo Chetcuti, canon of the Cathedral Chapter. The large congregation com­prised locals and visitors. Mgr Pace Forno dictated that the anniversary of this dedication be celebrated every third Sunday of October. A marble plaque marking the event was installed above the niche housing the statue of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary, close to the rotunda’s main door.

While Don Corsini’s Curial document is an invaluable source of documentation on this historic event, yet it is largely devoid of details pertaining to the ornate liturgy presumably celebrated on this day. The De Ecclesia dedicatione – the second of three pontificals compiled by William Durandus, Bishop of Mende (c. 1237-1296) provides us with further insight in this regard, and fuels our imagination on what would have occurred on this solemn occasion. Thus, seven penitential psalms would have been recited at the beginning of the ceremony. The box containing the holy relics would have been made of glass or copper, sealed and placed on a bier, later to be carried by members of the clergy in procession to the altar designated for dedication. The sealed box would also contain a leather parchment.

Consecration cross – one of 12 solemnly anointed with holy oils during the dedication ceremony led by Bishop of Malta Mgr Gaetano Pace Forno.Consecration cross – one of 12 solemnly anointed with holy oils during the dedication ceremony led by Bishop of Malta Mgr Gaetano Pace Forno.

Several preparatory rites included the marking of the walls of the church with 12 crosses and candles. As expected, these consecration crosses, symbolising the 12 apostles entrusted by Christ to run his Church were set on the walls bet­ween the Corinthian pilasters of the rotunda, beneath the magnificent catenary dome, and bear testimony to this event to this day. Set in an elaborate marble circular plate, each Greek cross is surrounded by a halo of 12 stars. The latter are reminiscent of the Biblical reference of the Revelation (12:1b), namely the “great sign of a woman in the sky, …clothed with sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head, a crown of 12 stars” – and a reminder of the Blessed Virgin Mary, titular saint of this church. These consecration crosses were being anointed for a second time with holy oils, having been used in the consecration of the old local parish church of Tommaso Dingli by Bishop Giovanni Pellerano on April 7, 1774.

Lithograph by Luigi Brocktorff depicting Grognet’s plan for the Mosta Rotunda, published by the Malta Penny Magazine, issue 98, July 24, 1841.Lithograph by Luigi Brocktorff depicting Grognet’s plan for the Mosta Rotunda, published by the Malta Penny Magazine, issue 98, July 24, 1841.

The De Ecclesia dedicatione specifies that after knocking on the church doors, the officiating bishop would lead the congregation inside. Using his crosier, he would trace the letters of the Latin and Greek alphabets in the ashes spread diagonally on the church floor in a ceremony called the Abecadarium. One line of the cross would span from the left-east (front) side of the church to the right-west (rear), while the other line would run from the right-west (front) to the left-west (rear) of the church. This would be followed by exorcisms and blessing of the so-called Gregorian water. The bishop would proceed to anoint and bless five crosses positioned in the middle and each of the four corners of the altar’s mensa (tabletop), sprinkle the church altars and walls, and subsequently venerate and seal the holy relics in the sepulchre within the altar. This would be followed by further anointing and blessings, and the celebration of mass.

Celebrations on this memorable day were further enhanced by the newly set up Banda tal-Mosta, later christened the Nicolo Isouard Philarmonic Society. Local musician Ġanni Azzopardi, a bandsman employed with the Royal Navy, took it upon himself to teach music to a number of locals starting around the year 1869, in time for the philharmonic society’s first public performance on October 15, 1871.

The Mostin sealed a glorious chapter in the history of this remarkable House of God 150 years ago, which would later host the XXIV International Eucharistic Congress in April 1913; witness the solemn coronation of its titular painting by papal decree in August 1975; and become elevated to the dignity of Minor Basilica in 2018.

As it reflects with gratitude and pride on the tenacity and faith of its ancestors, the present Mosta parish community should feel duty-bound to preserve the sacredness of this place of worship. While striving to maintain the rotunda’s religious and artistic patrimony, it is perhaps even more important to safeguard its permanent designated role as the house of the Divine King where the faithful’s minds and hearts transcend to God through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

 

Sandro Vella is a consultant phy­sician, diabetologist and endocrinologist with an interest in Malta’s cultural and religious heritage.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.