Discalced Carmelite Friar

Born in Għaxaq, the son of Giovanni Abdilla and Filomena née Cutajar, Joseph entered the Order of Discalced     Carmelites as a lay brother, at the Discalced Convent of St Theresa in Cospicua, receiving the religious name of Daniele del Santissimo Redentore.

He professed his solemn vows on Mount Carmel on 29 May, 1907. As he was a capable carpenter his skill was soon put into practice so that the General of the Order sent him to the hermitage of Hoz de Anero in Cantabria, Spain, to oversee the necessary reparations of the monastery which was then in danger of collapse.

Unable to return to Mount Carmel due to the outbreak of the ‘Great War’ (1914-1918), Brother Daniele Abdilla returned to Malta and was eventually sent to Haifa in 1919 where he found the convent on Mount Carmel occupied by Australian and British troops.

When the basilica was returned to the friars, he assisted Friar Luigi of Saint Joseph in endowing it with marble from the inside. When the Superior General Rev. William of Saint Albert, ordered the construction of the Basilica of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, in Shubra, Cairo, Abdilla was chosen to lead the works as well as to endow it with his architectural skills.

Although health conditions eventually impeded him from working on site, Rev. Abdilla still went to  supervise the project from his wheelchair. After an illness that lasted four years, Brother Daniele Abdilla died in Cairo shortly after receiving communion on 17 March 1960 while uttering slowly with his superior the words ‘Jesus, Mary, Joseph’.  

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.