Santa Marija feast: will Rotunda be granted the title of basilica?

Report by Andrea Rossitto

Tonight and tomorrow, thousands of people will line the streets of Mosta, many of them wearing blue to celebrate the annual feast of Santa Marija.

However, this year, on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of the coronation of the altarpiece of the Assumption, Mosta parishioners could have more reason to celebrate as they are eagerly waiting to know whether Archbishop Charles Scicluna will announce the Rotunda sanctuary as a basilica.

“This is one of the biggest feasts in Malta, and crowds throng the town’s streets to enjoy the awe-inspiring fireworks displays, the hundreds of lights decorating the various village churches, the marching bands and the statue bearers carrying their patron saint’s statue,” Mosta mayor Edwin Vassallo said.

Last year, parish priest Albert Buhagiar asked Archbishop Charles Scicluna’s permission to formally apply for a minor basilica status. The archbishop immediately agreed to the request and the Vatican had to decide whether the Mosta church should be accorded special privileges.

The Santa Marija feast marks the ascent into heaven by the Virgin Mary and is celebrated in six different Maltese parishes – Mosta, Qrendi, Imqabba, Hal Ghaxaq, Gudja and Attard – and in the Gozitan capital, Victoria.

Frans Deguara, Nicolo’ Isouard Band Club’s vice-president, explained how this year the Mosta band club kicked off the official external activities in the shadow of the Rotunda, the third-largest church dome in Europe and the ninth largest in the world.

“In view of enriching the feast, Mosta has two band clubs and two pyrotechnic organisations which along with the central committee and the various commissions and benefactors give a helping hand in the yearly preparations,” Deguara said. 

As part of the yearly festive programme, one of the cardinal events taking place is the fireworks display throughout the celebrations.

To this end, the 15 August Fireworks Factory and the Mosta Fireworks Association will be once more alternating in their pyrotechnical and pyromusical display shows.

15 August Fireworks Factory secretary Pierre Pizzuto pinpointed the numerous hard-working hours ‘behind the scenes’ when it comes to fireworks preparations.

“The show requires a lengthy manual process of manufacturing consisting of several stages of packing and gluing firework powder,” Pizzuto told MaltaToday.

“We should also recall the fact that we do our utmost to maintain the whole thing traditional. Nonetheless, since the show has to be as continuous as possible, this year, for the first time, we have invested in a computerised system to coordinate the complete exhibit.”

Edmond Saliba, head of the Mosta Fireworks Association, explained how the group engages in both aerial fireworks, from the vicinities of the Speranza Chapel in the Mosta valley, and ground pyrotechnics, arrayed in the town’s core square adjacent to the Dome.

“The ground-show encompasses orthodox Maltese single shot shells and coloured shells, lights creating some fanciful and distinctive effects, and mechanised ground fireworks displays with pinwheels. The spectacular pyromusical choreographies are the ultimate cherry on the cake,” Saliba added.

Thousands of locals and tourists, therefore, are expected to watch in awe the eye-catching fireworks, especially those to the tune of contemporary and classical music.

However, another remarkable pretext why the popular feast entices hordes of visitors on a yearly basis is the historical context in connection with the festivity.

The convoy 

The feast gained local immortality in the Second World War, when one of the most crucial supply convoys with food and fuel sailed into the Grand Harbour in Valletta on the day.

In August 1942, in what is known as ‘Operation Pedestal’, a do-or-die attempt was carried out by the vital convoy to plunge through Axis warships and submarines in Mediterranean waters and deliver supplies and ammunition to the starving islands of Malta and Gozo.

The convoy had been escorted, but the enemy took a heavy toll, and only five of the convoy vessels managed to reach Malta following fierce aerial and marine battles across the route from Gibraltar to Malta.

As a matter of fact, the British merchant fleet had plenty of speedy cargo ships, but no large tankers fast enough to keep up with the rest of the 16-knot convoy.

Conversely, a large tanker was needed to carry what was arguably the most valuable cargo at the time: fuel, without which the islands were nothing less than sitting ducks for enemy bombers.

Nevertheless, the gallant effort of the Texaco tanker S.S. Ohio – a 14,150 tons vessel designed to transport crude oil between the Texas oil fields and East Coast refineries – and of the Royal Navy to tow the badly damaged, listing and sinking vessel into the Grand Harbour that day was one of the epics of the war without which Malta would almost certainly have capitulated from starvation that year.