On National Service
I don’t make any secret of
the fact that one of my other
passions is football and, in
early September, I made the
journey to Malta to follow the
National Team.
During our wanderings
through the streets of
Valetta, actually as we left
the Cathedral, there on the
wall was a sign pointing the
way to St Paul’s Shipwreck
Church, making the studying
of the Book of Acts very real.
The Collegiate Parish
Church of St Paul's Shipwreck, also known as simply the Church of St
Paul's Shipwreck, is a Roman Catholic parish church and is one of
Valletta's oldest churches.
St Paul is considered the spiritual father of the Maltese. His shipwreck on
Malta is described in the New Testament (Acts 28, 1).
St. Luke wrote, "we found that the island was called Melita".
The church traces its origins to 1570s, was designed by Girolamo Cassar,
and completed in December 1582. The church was ceded to the Jesuit
Fathers and a new church was started in 1639. The church's facade was
rebuilt in 1885 according to the design of Nicola Zammit.
The church building is listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural
Property of the Maltese Islands.
The church hosts fine artistic works, including the magnificent altarpiece and
paintings. The wooden titular statue of St Paul was carved in 1659 by
Melchiorre Cafà, the brother of Lorenzo Gafà who designed the dome.
The statue is paraded through the streets of Valletta on the feast day of St
Paul's Shipwreck, February 10, sometimes during heavy rain.
One can also view the relic of the right wrist-bone of St Paul and part of the
column from San Paolo alle Tre Fontane, on which the saint was beheaded
in Rome.
Morag McHaffie
StOM Page 5