The Order of St John, that ruled over Malta from 1530 till 1798, was a religious order and, befittingly, its member knights celebrated in a solemn manner all the main feasts found in the Catholic Church’s religious calendar including, naturally, Christmastide consisting of Christmas Day and its Eve (December 24 and 25), The New Year (January 1) and the Epiphany (January 6).

Such festivities were mostly concentrated in their Conventual Church that, from the last decades of the 16th century, was the presently named St John’s Co-Cathedral at Valletta. All the ceremonies closely followed what was ordained in the Order’s Ceremoniale Ordinis Sancti Joannis Baptistae Hierosolymitani, still extant in the Archives of the Order preserved at The National Library of Malta.

At three o’clock in the afternoon of Christmas Eve, there was the recitation of the Nonas (Ninth Hour) and the church, altars and chapels were, by now, highly decorated for the occasion. The evening prayers preceded a procession headed by the Vice-Prior of St John’s to the main altar where there was exhibited a relic of the manger where Christ was born. The gold and silver reliquary of this relic, donated by the Prior of Pisa Fra Tommaso del Bene in 1710, was fashioned in the shape of a palm whose leaves were studded with diamonds.

This procession presaged the Christmas Eve vigil which was concluded by a Pontifical Mass at midnight. The altar would now include a manger with the figure of Baby Jesus surrounded with planters containing vetch sprouts (ġulbiena in Maltese) and lighted candles, a custom still carried out to the present day. Vetch seeds were sown on November 25, feast of St Catherine, and kept in the dark so that the seeds would grow white to symbolise innocence and purity.

Stefano Erardi (1630-1716): The Adoration of the Magi, the titular painting of the Chapel of rtmthe German Langue at St John’s Conventual Church, now a Co-Cathedral. Photo: Joe P. Borg, courtesy of St John’s Chapter and Foundation

The centre of almost all these celebrations was the main altar which, in those days, was more sumptuously decorated than nowadays, the result of spoliations by the French when they captured Malta in 1798. The spoliations included a removable opulent cover, in beaten silver, that overlaid the gradines of the altar and included niches housing statuettes of saints. It had been the gift of Grand Master Ramon Despuig (1736-41), weighed over 166kg and was used only twice a year, at Christmas and for the feast of St John the Baptist.

The altar and presbytery would also have been decorated with two silver torches, weighing 163kg, made in 1665; a silver antependium (altar frontal) weighing over 47kg donated by the church’s Grand Prior Fra Pierre Viani in 1681 who also presented the silver frontal of the credence table, also dating to 1681 and weighing over 10kg lbs; 15 silver statuettes, known as the Apostolato, which were however providentially redeemed by the Mdina Cathedral Chapter where they have remained till the present day.

On Christmas Day, the solemn celebrations continued within the Church with a Holy Mass. Before the Offertory, the Prefect of the Magisterial Palace would extend an invitation to the Knight Grand Crosses for Christmas lunch at the palace, hosted by the Grand Master.

January 1 commemorated the Circumcision of Christ and this feast day was celebrated with a Pontifical Mass. When the Terce (Third Hour) was sung, the Grand Master’s hand was kissed by the congregation present. During the Offertory, a collection was carried out, commencing with the Grand Master’s offering and followed by those of the knights. Popularly known as La Strena, this tradition was adopted by the Maltese populace who have slightly altered the appellation to L-Istrina.

A miniature, depicting The Epiphany, from Grand Master l’Isle Adam’s (1530-34) choral books. Photo: Mario Mintoff, courtesy of St John’s Chapter and Foundation

Christmastide ends with the feast of the Epiphany but here the Chapel of the German Langue also comes to the fore because it is dedicated to The Adoration of the Magi with the altar-piece, painted by the Maltese artist Stefano Erardi. (1630-1716), depicting them adoring the Christ-Child and presenting their gifts of gold, incense and myrrh symbolising glory, divinity and suffering respectively. Erardi was also the painter of this chapel’s two lunettes which depict The Nativity of Jesus and The Massacre of the Innocents. The paintings were commissioned in 1667 by Fra Giovanni Ernesto della Torre whose coat-of-arms are at the bottom of the paintings.

Prior to 1798, as one might expect, the chapel was decorated with its full regalia but, again, various silver objects then in use were eventually despoiled by the French including the following: a sanctuary lamp donated by Baron von Cappel; six candlesticks presented by Bailiff Fra Joseph von Herberstein; two torch holders; the frames with the recitals of the Gloria donated by Commander de Cloyac; an antependium with a centrally-placed medallion depicting The Three Magi, the gift of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena (1722-36). All this silverware would have been exhibited together with the portraits of the Holy Roman Emperor and the reigning Grand Master placed on the two major pilasters facing the church’s nave. The portraits were decorated with cloth of red silk damask, golden braid and tassels.

Grand Master l’Isle Adam’s (1530-34) choral books include a miniature featuring The Nativity of Jesus Christ. Photo: Joe P. Borg, courtesy of St John’s Chapter and Foundation

The choir chanted the Prime which was followed by a solemn High Mass celebrated by a Conventual Chaplain from the German Langue for which the Grand Master would be present. He would personally be censed and wished Peace. At the end of the Mass, the Grand Master left the chapel and proceeded to his throne in the presbytery while the choir intoned the Terce after which a procession, led by the Grand Prior and in which the Grand Master took part, wound its way around the church and the people present. The Grand Prior then celebrated the Pontifical Mass of the Epiphany, assisted by other Conventual Chaplains, with the Grand Master partaking of the celebration from his throne.

Finally, one may here also add that the superb set of Flemish tapestries, donated by Grand Master Ramon Perellos (1697-1720) that arrived at Malta in 1702, also includes two Christmas themes: The Nativity of Jesus Christ and The Adoration of the Magi.