Christmas in Malta

The traditional young boys sermon on Christmas eve is over a century old, with the earliest documented ones taking place at Luqa and Floriana. The crib has a longer history. The Franciscans Conventual already had one at their church in Rabat in 1617. The Christmas Eve procession with the statue of Baby Jesus was organised for the first time in 1921.

Christmas around 77 years ago was confined to church functions in which the whole town or village took part. A short procession took place within the church or around the church parvis. Most churches were still lit by thousands of candles. Only a few had gaslight and electricity was limited to the capital.

BOYS SERMON

The celebrant, before the solemn midnight Mass, carried the statue of Baby Jesus from the side altar where it would have been exposed for the previous nine days, to the high altar. It was this High Mass that the young boy, dressed as an acolyte (altar boy) delivered the sermon from the pulpit. The first known Christmas Eve sermon by an altar boy was delivered by George Sapiano in the parish church of Luqa in 1883.

Before this function, the town or village was quiet, as on other nights. Street lighting was very poor. Total darkness was only broken by some oil lamps. Christmas food, such as honey-rings (qaghaq tal-ghasel) and boiled dried chestnut soup (imbuljuta), were sold. The wine shops were crowded with men drinking red wine. They used to join their friends later, playing the zaqq (bagpipes), the mandolin, the guitar and tambourine.

Fr. George Preca, who in 1907 founded the Society of Christian Doctrine, known as M.U.S.E.U.M. (Magizter Utinam Sequatur Evangelium Universus Mundus: Oh Lord may the whole world follow your gospel), had a special devotion to Christmas. He even celebrated his first soilemn Mass on Christmas Day 1906 at Ft. Gajetans church in Hamrun.

THE FIRST PROCESSION

Dun Gorgs devotions and activities found public expression on Christmas Eve of 1921. At one of his meetings early in December with the societys members in Hamrun, where he had opened the first centre, he expressed his strong wish that on Christmas Eve members would organise a "manifestation" with Baby Jesus in all towns and villages.

Dun Gorg did not want a formal procession but a "manifestation" of faith and joy to involve people in the real spirit of Christmas.

The M.U.S.E.U.M. members did their best to organise the event, but their greatest problem was to get hold of a life-size statue of Baby Jesus for the demonstration. Seventy-four years ago such statues were only available in churches and religious communities for midnight Masses. The members of Fr. Precs society tried all possible sources, to no avail, but Fr. Francis Micallef of the Franciscans Conventual in Valletta finally lent them one for the occasion.

At sunset on Christmas Eve, 1921, Fra Diegu Street, Hamrun, was crowded with children and adults ready to take part in this first procession. Many provided themselves with lanterns of various kinds - some used in the Viaticum, others borrowed bicycle headlamps lit by acetylene gas, oil lamps used on farmers carts or hurricane lamps. Others, mostly youths, improvised lanterns hewn out of small pumpkins or vegetable marrows with candles inside. Others brought coloured paper lanterns, Venetian lights, palm fronds and olive branches. From the beginning it was evident that the idea had caught the imagination of many and it was going to be a success.

MALTESE CAROLS

The Hamrun members and boys were joined by others from nearby centres in Marsa and Blata l-Bajda. The procession went along the main Hamrun streets with the participants singing traditional carols, like Adeste Fideles (Come all Ye Faithful) and Ninni la Tibkix Izjed (Sleep Baby, dont cry), written by the Jesuit Fr. Andrew Schembri (1774-1862) from Luqa for Maltese migrants in Tunis.

The entire population of Hamrun went to watch the procession and a truly Christian enthusiasm was created in preparation for the midnight Mass. Similar "manifestations" were held in a few other localities in Malta. Elderly members of MUSEUM relate interesting experiences of the first processions held in 1921 and 1922.

To meet the demand for more large figures of Baby Jesus, half a dozen were imported from Lecce, Italy, by a Valletta agent. These were soon bought by the larger centres of the 18 which MUSEUM had opened in Malta. They cost about 2 M liras each, which was quite high, considering that the average daily wage was 1s 8d (8 cents). Fr. Francis Micallef is believed to have supplied Qormi and a couple other centres with statuettes he himself had made or imported.

EARLY EXPERIENCES

Mr. Gerald Schembri of Zabbar, then aged nine, recalls that in the first procession held there he had carried Baby Jesus in his arms. Gerald was dressed as an altar boy. The village streets were almost in total darkness, not yet surfaced, muddy and wioth many pot-holes. Boys brought all sorts of lanterns, including those used by farmers and fishermen on their crafts. A bicycle lamp, lit by acetylene gas, was held by Josehp Chetcuti to keep Baby Jesus in the spotlight.

They carried coloured paper lanterns, lit with candles, which easily caught fire or were frequently blown out. All along the route, people placed their oil lamps behind windows to break the darkness.

When the procession reached Bajjada Street, it encountered a group of drunken men. The superior, Joseph Lanzon used to relate that the children were scared at first but as the drunks walked aside, the cortege proceeded without incident.

DECORATIONS

Each member did his best to contribute towards a better presentation of this now very popular event. Members who were good carpenters produced beautiful yet simple mangers. They made plywood banners inscribed with biblical quotations. Letters were perforated through the plywood, and covered with coloured tissue paper so that these banners could be lit with candles and the words raed out. Each centre had a bigger banner with the words Verbum Dei Caro Factum est on it leading the procession.

In Qormi, Antonio Cassar, a tinsmith who belonged to MUSEUM, hammered out a beautiful halo, two flower bases complete with flowers and leaves to be mounted on the portable platform. Emanuel Borg painted two pictorial backgrounds in a stained glass style with aback-light.

By the mid-1930s mantel lamps replace acetylene tanks. Children were to sing carols in Maltese and Latin. Other members played instruments to accompany choirs. Portable organs and piano accordions were among the more popular. In some villages traditional dorga was also played. This was an earthenware pot, like a pitcher, having a spout with a slot, similar to a whistle. When filled with water and blown into, it produced a warbling note.

After the war, portable lighting appliances came into use, using batteries, and public address sytems were mounted all along the route. Illuminated banners with biblical quotations in Maltese replaced the older ones. Bottled gas lamps substituted oil lamps. In some villages a band made up of volunteer musicians joined the members of the MUSEUM in the procession. The female section of the society provided children representing biblical characters.

The procession used to stop in the village square, where children recited duets and poems with a Christmas theme. The very first duet was the popular one Alpinu u Battillu. The Biblical scholar Mgr Saydon provided the Zurrieq centre witha specially written duet called Il-Lejl tal-Milied (Christmas Night), while other poets wrote sonnets and poems for the occasion. Poems by Dun Karm, Prof. A. Cuschieri and Fr. Frans Camilleri still form part of the programme as does the young boys sermon. Today girls also present a Christmas feature at such stops.

As the Christmas Eve procession became more popular, families started decorating pottery statuettes of Baby Jesus in balconies and windows. Large and small crib-makers opened their creations to public viewing.

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Carmel Bonavia is a historian, journalist, philatelist, curator of Zabbar Parish Museum, a retired Headteacher and a senior member of M.U.S.E.U.M.
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(Source: VOICE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, Vol.2 - Issue # 18; Dec. 1997. VOM: St. Francis Ravelin, Floriana, MALTA)