St Michael School, run by the Society of Christian Doctrine (MUSEUM), celebrated its 75th anniversary last November. For this occasion, Preca Publications published a book researched by the author titled L-Iskola St Michael – L-Għaxqa ta’ San Ġorġ Preca (St Michael School – The Pride and Joy of St George Preca). The book has a lot of new information, which should interest all those who care about education and the teachings of St George Preca.
‘My pride and joy’
By the end of World War II, Toni Agius (1907-1989), a MUSEUM member and engine fitter, had left his secure job at the shipyard to open a new school. He was joined by three other members of the MUSEUM, apprentices at the shipyard, and sacrificed everything to embark on this beautiful but challenging adventure.
Like the founder of the MUSEUM, Agius found people who did not understand him and others who had reasonable fears. But St George Preca blessed Agius and his new project. Dun Ġorġ later called St Michael School “my pride and joy” and he always visited the school with great happiness, talked to the students and teachers and celebrated mass there.
‘Special school’
I joined St Michael’s as a teacher in 1996, the year the school was celebrating its 50th anniversary. Like many before me, I found a welcoming,
familiar environment at St Michael’s. The school allowed me and many others to put my talents to service others, especially students.
Twenty-five years have passed since then and I have no regrets about my choice a quarter of a century ago. Thousands of students and dozens of teachers also experienced St Michael School over the years, an experience which marked our lives in the most positive way.
Agius used to call St Michael School a “special school” because he didn’t want the school to be just an ordinary school like all the others. There were already several schools and colleges in Malta at that time.
Agius had witnessed how many young people were seeing examples of bad conduct at the workplace and realised that schools were not doing enough in this respect. The generous and missionary spirit inspired by St George Preca as a member of the MUSEUM could not leave him indifferent to such difficulties.
Significant developments
In 1977, St Michael School saw that the needs of the country had changed drastically. Therefore, the school, initially a trade school, started to prepare students for Ordinary level examinations. This brought about great changes and, in the following 30 years, two more floors were built, with new laboratories and a large gymnasium. The school was thus able to bring in more students and expand the range of subjects on offer.
Today, St Michael School employs 80 staff members and has 370 students between the ages of 11 and 16. Inspired by the Gospel, our school community works to instil in every student a vision of hope through an educational model built on humility and meekness, the two pillars on which St George Preca founded the MUSEUM.
Fruit of sacrifice
Archbishop Charles Scicluna personally sent me a message after seeing a copy of the book. He said: “As a young priest, I had the opportunity to celebrate the Holy Eucharist with the students of St Michael School. It was a wonderful experience to meet so many students and teachers in an educative environment enriched with strong Christian values.
“St Michael School is a monument to the dedication of the members of the Christian Doctrine Society but it is also the fruit of the sacrifices of many dedicated parents, families and lay people. Over time, I have seen the happy development of the school: from a modest environment to a more modern environment and adapted to today’s demands.
“I wish St Michael School to continue to serve our country in the field of education and instil in students and teachers the persuasion of the words that St George Preca loved to repeat: ‘Teaching is the source of all good.’”
Contribution to Maltese society
In an introduction to the book, Raymond D’Amato, who has been head of school for more than 30 years, thanked the author “not only for the thorough research he has done to give us the history of our dear school but also for his commitment to giving us the vision, love and dedication of the work of the members of the staff of our school through all these years”.
He added: “I appreciate the school’s contribution to Maltese society, especially during difficult times. If you have been lucky enough to be a part of our school in the last 75 years, share with others what you have received. I wish St Michael School a bright future so that, in the words of St George Preca, it ‘rises with your blessing and brings out spiritual and temporal good, to all who enter it will be the object of your mercy’.”
Virtuous spirit
Agius and Superior Carmelo Callus wanted the school, like the MUSEUM centres, to be a “forge in which sin burns”. It is no wonder that the school is named for the archangel St Michael, who cast the devil into hell according to the Holy Scriptures.
We pray to this saint to bless the staff and students of the past, present and future and their families to grow in virtue and, thus, live a genuinely humane life.
I wanted to write this book to keep Agius’s memories alive and write a historical account of the events that led to St Michael School’s establishment and the tremendous virtuous spirit that animated the first teachers.
I also wrote the book to not forget our origins, to keep the past in mind and help us visualise the school’s future.
A school is not a business meant to make profit but, instead, to serve as an extended family for children and adolescents where they should be educated in the values of goodness. This is what Agius and St George Preca desired.
May this book serve to rediscover the values that shaped our predecessors and, above all, their commitment to doing good to others and, by doing so, glorifying God.
L-Iskola St Michael – L-Għaxqa ta’ San Ġorġ Preca will be launched on May 18 for MUSEUM members and other guests.
It is the author’s eighth book and his third one this year, following Church and Mafia and The Great Popes of Our Time. All his books may be obtained from Preca Library. For more information, call 2122 2626.
The public is invited to attend another book launch taking place at St Michael School, Canon Road, Santa Venera, on Friday, May 20, at 7.30pm. One can buy a copy of the book, tour the school and watch the comedy The Sultan and the Captain, written by Trevor Zahra and directed by Clive Piscopo.
The school will also be open to the public on Saturday, May 21, from 7pm.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank everyone who cooperated with him to finalise the book. He interviewed several people who came into contact with the school and would like to apologise to others whom he may have left out.