How is St Martha related to St George’s

Martha is the Patron saint of active, practical women, perhaps unfairly contrasted with her more laid back and “contemplative” sister Mary. Both were sisters of Lazarus of Bethany. But Martha is also the woman of faith, who said: “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world” (Jn 11:27).

The blessing at St George’s Basilica of the statue of St Martha for its chapel at Tal-Għonq in 1988

According to legend, after Jesus’s death, Martha left Judea around AD 48, and went to Provence with her sister Mary (conflated with Mary Magdalene) and her brother Lazarus. They settled in and are said to have evangelized the Provence area of southern France. Among the legends associated with Martha is the one associated with the town of Tarascon-sur-Rhône. A mythological monster, the Tarasque, said to have lived in the town during the 1st century, was purportedly tamed by Martha in 48 AD.

Villajoyosa, Spain
The town of Villajoyosa, Spain, honours St. Martha as its patron saint and celebrates a Festival of Moors and Christians annually in her honour. The 250-year old festival commemorates the attack on Villajoyosa by Berber pirates led by Zalé-Arraez in 1538, when, according to legend, St. Martha came to the rescue of the townsfolk by causing a flash flood which wiped out the enemy fleet, thus preventing the pirates from reaching the coast.

Since his election in 2013, Papa Francis moved his residence from the Palazzo Apostolico to the Casa Santa Marta, which sits next to St Peter’s Basilica, within the walls of the ancient Vatican city, door to door with the Palazzo San Carlo where the altar servers from the Maltese islands reside during the summer when they visit Rome to serve at St Peter’s.

Victoria, Gozo
No church dedicated to Saint Martha seems to have ever been erected on the main island of Malta. The same cannot be said for Gozo. The church or chapel of Saint Martha in the limits of Victoria was built in 1866, and Vicar General Mgr Pietro Pace, later Bishop of Gozo and eventually Archbishop of Malta, blessed the first stone. The building was ready on 11 November 1866. Father Frans Grech, the nephew of benefactors Attard, was to become the first rector of the church. The church sits across the road from the cemetery known as iċ-ċimiterju tal-kolera or iċ-ċimiterju tal-Għonq. The chapel is quite small – eleven square metres in all – but is well kept. It has one dome which is hexagonical in shape and a lantern. The facade is divided into four pilasters of Doric style.

Connections with St George’s Parish Basilica
Within the small church, the titular painting dates to 1867 and shows the Blessed Virgin Mary together with Saint Martha, interceding for the souls in Purgatory. According to historian Joe Brincat, it is attributed to painter Pawlu Cuschieri. On the apse, there is a beautiful painting showing Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life together with Martha and Mary his sisters. It was painted by Gozitan painter Joe Cutajar known as It-Talent, who is a parishioner of St George’s. The statue of Saint Martha was made by Albert Micallef and blessed by Bishop Cauchi at St George’s Basilica in Victoria on 27 July 1988 in the presence of Canon Joseph Borg, who was Rector of the Church and Canon of St George’s Collegiate Basilica.

Various rectors of the Church of Saint Martha belonged to the clergy of St George’s Basilica. Among these one can mention the late Canon Joseph Borg (ta’ Frans), the late Fr Louis Bezzina and the present Rector, Mgr John Bosco Cremona, who is a member of the Cathedral Chapter as well as Canon of the Collegiate of St George’s Basilica.

In 2014, Mgr Cremona commissioned young writer Fr Geoffrey G. Attard, a priest from Victoria who also hails from St George’s, to write a new hymn in honour of Saint Martha. The hymn has since been set to music and is sung in the church during the festivities in honour of the saint. You can read the hymn in its Maltese original, below.

Further information about the Chapel of Saint Martha, limits of Victoria is to be found at
https://www.kappellimaltin.com/Il-Kappelli/Sett12/VCT_S_Marta_tal-Ghonq/vct_s_marta_tal-ghonq.html.

Dar Santa Marta
A ‘Dar Santa Marta’ has also been erected by the Ministry for Gozo, in the vicinities of the chapel, with the aim of providing people with physical, mental and/or learning disabilities with a safe, friendly and relaxing environment.

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Innu lil Santa Marta Verġni
meqjuma fil-Knisja tagħha tal-Għonq, Victoria

Sliem għalik Qaddisa Marta
ta’ Betanja fjur fewwieħ
ma’ Marija u Lazzru ħutek
illum nagħtu l-akbar ġieħ;

Inti stħaqqlek tilqa’ f’darek
lill-Mistenni ta’ kull żmien
stqarrejt lilu b’Iben t’Alla
Sid tal-mewt u tal-qawmien.