Lent is such a special time of the year!On a span of forty days, the Church prepares her children spiritually for her “feast of feasts”, celebrated on that greatest night of all: the Easter Vigil.Meanwhile, waiting for the Lord’s deliverance, Holy Mother Church invites us to “keep watch” in prayer, fasting and charity.
These are the three themes presented by Christ himself in yesterday’s Gospel reading.Ash Wednesday signals the beginning of the Lenten pilgrimage which will take us all along a journey of splendid texts from the two Testaments of the Scriptures, rich in symbolism and loaded with deep spiritual meaning.This is what Lent is primarily about, and what has kept it free of the secular influence which unfortunately has so utterly undermined its liturgical counterparts, namely Advent and Christmas.There are no decorations, shopping or presents to carry us away from the true meaning.
Each year, the Lenten programme is characterised from successive weeks of spiritual exercises.At St George’s we have five, including two different courses open to all categories.It is the widest choice you can possibly find in Gozo.Even the choice of preachers is usually made meticulously, especially when it comes to married couples.This year we have Fr Marcello Ghirlando ofm, a charismatic Biblical scholar and exorcist.
This Lenten season at St George’s parish community was launched, as usual, with a conventual Mass, including the rite of ashes, yesterday at 18hrs, led by archpriest Mgr Pawlu Cardona.Punctual, as always, for the opening of the liturgical period, is the statue of the Holy Crucifix, which as from Ash Wednesday finds its place behing the altar canopy, adding a devotional and deeply austere atmosphere to the basilica, as Lent slowly starts proceeding.Last year, the statue, a wooden masterpiece by Pietru Pawl Azzopardi (1848), underwent some intervention of conservation led by professional Neapolitan artist Prof. Ugo Dovere.
As the weeks go by, more Passion statues are placed beneath the basilica’s main arches, ready to be taken out into procession, this year on Good Friday.Rather than mere artistic works, these statues have a devotional character just like the procession itself, inviting the faithful to meditate on the mysteries of Christ’s Passion, the same as the Via Crucis does.The devotion of the Stations of the Cross is kept daily at 5.30pm, and is broadcast on parish radio Leħen il-Belt Victoria.This year, members of the Confraternity of the Holy Crucifix will take part.
Two special celebrations of the Way of the Cross will also be held outside the basilica.Together with the one at St George’s Square, on Holy Wednesday, which was restored to life two years ago thanks to the initiative of the parish office, a similar celebration has been added to this year’s programme, this time at the Taċ-Ċawla neighbourhood, and in the form of a pilgrimage.Other traditional celebrations have been maintained on the programme.A new initiative is also that of a live-in, replacing the spiritual exercises for youth, which will be held at Dar Stella Maris, Żebbuġ.
An attractive printed version of the Lenten programme of celebrations for this year at St George’s basilica has been distributed to all parish households along with this week’s bulletin.It contains also short quotations for every day, taken from Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for Lent about God’s Justice as shown in Jesus Christ.A PDF version is available online (see Noticeboard), together with an abridged version in English.
Now that you have mentioned Pope Benedict XVI, there is a nice little number in today's Letters Section in the Times - regarding the Pontiff's imminent visit to Malta. I must say, I concur whole heartedly with the writer's sentiments.
Emanuel Mizzi20-Feb-2010 07:53:23
Naqbel perfettamemt ma writeup li nkiteb.Nissugerixxi li l-istatwa mirakoloza tal-Kurcifiss tibqa fejn hi ; u tkun haga flokha li ssir statwa ohra replica taghha[jekk trid tista ssir ta'l-injam]biex titqieghed wara l-artal u anke tinhareg fil-purcissjoni.
