A Pilgrimage in honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Balluta
As part of the activities of the titular feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Carmelite Community of Balluta will be holding a Pilgrimage on Friday 19 July at 6pm.
The Pilgrimage will be led by Bishop of Gozo Mgr. Mario Grech and commence from the Parish Church. It will pass through Ċensu Tabone Street, Balluta Square, Manwel Dimech Street, Gafar Street, Old College Street and Mariano Vella Street where holy mass will be celebrated. Afterwards the Pilgrimage will continue through the following streets; Camenzuli, Saint Henry, Saint Helen, Manwel Dimech, Depiro, Saint Ignatius, Scicluna, Sur Fons, Balluta Square, Ċensu Tabone and back to the Parish Church where the act of entrustment and the Parish sacramental blessing will take place. The Franciscan priests from Sacro Cuor will be taking part alongside the Carmelite friars.
It is thus fitting to know some information about the prestigious work of art, venerated in the Balluta Parish church in St Julian’s namely the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. According to historical documents, from the notarial archives of Francesco Bovio, on 5 November 1779, an agreement was reached in Naples between Mr. Guido Pasquale on behalf of the Carmelite fraternity of Valletta and the sculptor Gennaro Reale. The agreement was to make a statue 6 and three quarter feet high with a base of half a foot high and complete it by the end of March 1780. The statue was to be made with a high degree of likeness to the clay model presented by the same sculptor. Furthermore the agreement stated that the statue had to be painted in accordance with the rules. The price for this statue was set to be 70 Neapolitan Ducats and all the work on the statue was to be overseen by Professor Carlo Mondicello.
A General Council meeting was held for the Carmelite fraternity in their oratory in Valletta on 19 March 1780 where the agreement for the statue was approved.
At that time in Valletta, there was another statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel which was not venerated anymore, and thus it was agreed to use the pedestal of this statue for the new statue. Eugenio Borg the prime-carpenter, undertook the wood work of the pedestal. The Carmelites paid Captain Giacomo Burlo Corribo to have the statue shipped down from Naples on a vessel of the Order of the Knights of St John.
On 17 September 1780, the statue reached the Maltese shores, without any ornamentation or paint. Later on the painter J. Antonio Grech who was working at the Grand Masters Palace in San Anton at the time, took on the job of painting the statue while Mr. Galdes saw to its the guilding.
The first time this statue was carried outdoors was in a procession held on the Sunday of the octave of the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Valletta in 1882. The statue was blessed with great solemnity and was placed in the Carmelite oratory in the Basilica Sanctuary in Valletta for the public to see. It was later in 1890 when the Carmelites moved to Balluta, that the statue was given to them.
In 1896, four years after the priory was built, the first procession was held in honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Balluta which to this day is still venerated in this Parish Church.
Every year the procession takes place on the last Sunday of July and is celebrated with great solemnity together with the participation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Balluta Musical Society, as well as the External Feast Commission. The musical society was formed on the 29th of September 1987 during the first sitting of the Provisory Council. The following year on 23 July 1988, the official opening of the club and the inauguration of the Music band was held.
Today the club is located on St. Helen Street in Sliema under the name of Pope John Paul II. During the feast, the band contributes with its marches along the streets as well as the vocal and instrumental programmes held on the eve of the feast in Balluta square. Apart from this there are many other activities and public attractions that make this feast a memorable one such as the Fireworks display and the Pilgrimage being held this year on 19 July.
I encourage you all to attend this Pilgrimage while praying that the Virgin Mary Queen of the Carmelites, watches over this parish with great love, so that She might yield more saintly vocations.
Fr. Hermann Duncan is a Carmelite Friar at the Caremlite Priory in Balluta.