Cardinal Mario Grech will lead a Pontifical Mass at Kerċem parish on the feast of Our Lady of Succour tomorrow, Sunday, July 9, at 9am. St Gregory choir, under the direction of maestro di cappella Carmel P. Grech, will take part. St Anthony Band of Birkirkara will play marches along the main streets of Kerċem at noon.

The parish community will gather at the church for evening prayers, led by Fr Franklin Vella, at 7pm, followed by the procession with the statue of Our Lady accompanied by the St Gregory Band of Kerċem under the direction of Mro Mark Gauci.

Kerċem parish’s statue of Our Lady of Succour, which arrived in Gozo from France in 1897.Kerċem parish’s statue of Our Lady of Succour, which arrived in Gozo from France in 1897.

Mnarja Band, under the direction of Mro Joseph Grech, will perform a concert in front of the parish church at 8.15pm.

The statue will return to the church at around 10.15pm, accompanied by the singing of the antiphon Beatam Me Dicent, followed by a sacramental blessing.

Today, Saturday, the eve of the feast, the translation of the relic will take place at 6.45pm from the Eucharistic chapel to the parish church. Fr Edward Vella will concelebrate Mass at 7pm, with the participation of Stella Maris orchestra and St Gregory choir, under the direction of maestro di cappella Carmel P. Grech.

An audiovisual spectacle, Omm il-Kerċmin, by the feast committee, will be held at St Gregory Square at 10pm, followed by the fifth edition of Flames Across the Meadows, in Triq il-Kalandrijiet, at 10.45pm, with the participation of St Michael of Lija and 25 ta’ Novembru taż-Żejtun fireworks factories.

A display of ground fireworks will be held at midnight.

Kerċem was separated from the cathedral and established a separate parish on March 10, 1885. The foundation stone of the church was laid on March 12, 1846, the feast of St Gregory, when a votive procession used to wend its way from the cathedral to the old chapel of St Gregory. It was consecrated on October 22, 1912.

The toponym Ta’ Kerċem is an enigma. Gozo historian Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis hypothesised that it might be the name or nickname of a family of Arabic origin that once inhabited the area.

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