Catholics in Malta mark Good Friday with solemn ritual and pageantry

Holy Week enthusiasts will be finally able to attend Good Friday processions tonight for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Good Friday processions are a staple tradition in Maltese culture, marking the end of the 40-day lenten period leading up to Easter Sunday.

Last year, processions had to be cancelled at the eleventh-hour due to the bad weather which hit the islands. The procession was also cancelled in previous years due to the preventive restrictions.

A statute depicting Christ’s crucifixion at the Birgu church

The Good Friday tradition dates back to medieval times, with Christian devotees flooding to village squares around Malta and Gozo to experience the processions.

No Mass is celebrated on Good Friday, which is a day of mourning in the Catholic tradition, and church bells will not toll, replaced instead by the traditional ċuqljata, wooden clappers.

Jesus on the cross outside the Zebbug chruch

Archbishop Charles Scicluna will be leading the liturgy of the Lord’s passion at St John’s Co-Cathedral in the afternoon. The adoration of the cross is held in parishes and starts at 3pm, around the time of Jesus’s death on the cross.

The processions also include a set of statues depicting the Passion of Christ.

Men, women and children dressed up as biblical characters usually feature in the procession, while band players lead the way. Some would walk barefoot in the streets with chains tied to their ankles or dragging large wooden crosses.

Notable processions, which attract hundreds of participants, including children, are held in Bormla, Isla, Birgu, Ħaż-Żebbuġ, Rabat, Qormi, Żejtun, Mosta and Naxxar.

The day is also marked by street vendors selling the traditional Qagħaq tal-Appostli (Apostles’ ring bread), a loaf of soft bread with a crunchy exterior adorned with almonds and sesame seeds that is baked specifically for the Lenten period.