The current work on the Museum & Cultural Centre being created by Fondazzjoni Belt Victoria, part of the project named Il-Ħaġar: The Making of a People co-financed by European and Government funds, can be classified in three categories.

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A detailed bibliography of all published material on the local and international printed and online press related to St George or St George’s Basilica.  The list is prepared by archivist Toni Farrugia and uploaded regularly on this website.  This edition covers the year 2011.

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Charles R. Cassar’s dissertation on the precious collection of works of art at St George’s Basilica is certainly one of the most valuable recent contributions to the history of our parish.  Cassar has just graduated BA(Hons) in History of Art at the University of Malta, and his research study A catalogue of works of art at St George’s Basilica, Gozo is a must-read for all those interested in the artistic heritage of our parish church.

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Bishop Mario Grech’s decision to appoint Dun Ġużepp Gauci – a priest we would unreservedly call Ġorġjan – as an honorary monsingor of the Gozo Cathedral Chapter, came as a happy surprise!  No priest from St George’s has been made canon of the Cathedral for quite a good number of years… and if one was to be made, Dun Ġużepp was by far the best candidate!

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After quite long procedural preparations, works on site have at last resumed.  AF Ellis (Home Decor) Ltd, awarded the finishing tender, have sent their first team… as passers-by surely noticed from Tuesday 20 December!  We again ask for your understanding: even with the best of intentions, it is obviously impossible to eliminate all inconvenience. 

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Samuel Aquilina, an altar server for the last four years and a half at St George’s Basilica, is one of the three altar servers who will make it for a short experience at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican this coming Summer.  Samuel sat for the exam on Saturday 26 November 2011 after attending a series of lessons consisting mainly of liturgical content.

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I sometimes wonder how Keats would have addressed the Christmas season had the subject crossed his teeming mind, or better still, his burning heart!  A romantic soul such as his, not unacquainted with pain and suffering, could not have remained unmoved by such a poignant and inspiring event!  Judging by the honeyed poetry lavished on the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”, it does not take a genius to imagine the delights the poet would conjured to turn the “bitter chill”* of a “wintry night”* into the “sweetest of the year”!  After all, that is what the Almighty did, did he not?  Did he not turn the “bitter chill” of a “wintry night” into the “sweetest of the year”?  Oh! That we were there…

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The management of the official website of St George’s Basilica joins the Archpriest, Collegiate Chapter and Clergy in wishing a Blessed Christmas to all our readers and regular visitors.  Let’s stand in awe and wonder before the Lord’s coming…

Keep yourself posted through our news articles and media uploads.  Visit our Christmas photo album and our Podcasts section.

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The ancient painting of St Lazarus framed | November meeting for adolescents | Museum open day | The beginning of Advent | Demise of Bishop Annetto Depasquale | Emotional funeral rites for tragedy victim | The feast of the L-Immakulata and Mgr Xuereb honoured with Ġieħ il-Belt Victoria | The restored altar of St George’s Basilica on exhibition in Valletta | The Agius De Soldanis’ Baby Jesus in a prestigious exhibition at the OPM | More about the projects financed by eco-Gozo | Two cribs built by adolescents at the parish buildings | Altar boy Samuel Aquilina will serve the Pope at the Vatican next summer | Francesco Pio Attard and Charles Cassar about St George’s in their respective academic thesis

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The nine days before Christmas invite the faithful to prepare their hearts spiritually, rather than just externally, for the great feast of Jesus’ birth.  This year, the Novena at St George’s Basilica is focusing on the sense of awe and wonder before the Mystery of Incarnation, with the aid of an Icon of the Nativity which is being ‘built’ by the children.  Each day, at 6pm, the basilica is packed with children and parents for a true celebration of joy and expectation.

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There is a feature, annually displayed in the basilica for Christmastide, which this year will be missing.  The historic and artistic urn containing Baby Jesus, mentioned by 18th-century historian Can. Agius de Soldanis, and which is displayed for Christmas on one of the side altars, this year is featuring in an important exhibition organised by the Office of the Prime Minister at the Auberge de Castille in Valletta.  The exhibition, Il-Bambini tal-Milied f’Malta. 350 sena ta’ storja, is showing the most valuable Bambini to be found on the island, and it seems that our Bambin is the only one from Gozo.

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For St George’s Basilica, Saturday 10 December 2011 was one red-letter day to be etched with a shimmering gold lining. The restored marble Baroque altar that from 1754 to 1960 had adorned the ancient parish church of Gozo, was being revealed and displayed in Valletta, its place of birth, before it returns to Victoria, its place of grace, where it will feature prominently in the forthcoming museum at its historic centre.

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The official programme of events for this year’s Christmas festivities at St George’s Basilica has just been published and distributed together with this weekend’s parish bulletin.  The programme carries on the front Rublev’s famous Icon of the Nativity, which will be at the centre of the theme for the Christmas Novena, starting on Thursday 15 December.

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