PILGRIMAGE FOUR
After 1962

The Founder’s legacy

We start the last part of our pilgrimage with the house at Santa Venera where Fr Preca died. It was a new house for him and it symbolises his total detachment from material affluence. As he had shown on his deathbed, his heart was wholly for God and for that which is God’s. May his detachment be ours and may his wholehearted love for God be ours as well.

Fr Preca died but he is still alive not only in God’s presence but also in the Society he had founded. It is the duty of this Society to foster his spirit and to deliver it to those who are eager to embrace it. The headquarters and its chapel are symbols of Fr Preca’s presence among us, a presence that is still teaching us to love God.

Start Pilgrimage Back to Pilgrimage Selection
Right Side Content ...
1
The House in the Parish Street, Sta Venera
This house was bought by Nellie Bartolo, Fr Preca’s nurse and a Museum Member herself. The Founder came to live
PILGRIMAGE FOUR - After 1962
1
The House in the Parish Street, Sta Venera

This house was bought by Nellie Bartolo, Fr Preca’s nurse and a Museum Member herself. The Founder came to live here a year before his death. Compared to his previous residence in Óamrun, this house at Sta Venera was airy, comfortable and suited for the Founder’s needs, but this change meant that in his old age, the Founder was denied the cherished memories of the house where he had spent nearly all his life.


Let us pray

O Lord, grant that we live waiting patiently for that blissful moment when we shall see that longed-for face which is the joy of the saints, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

PREV MAP
Santa Venera
NEXT MAP
Santa Venera
1
The Mother House, Blata l-Bajda
Built on a site of a former cemetry, the Mother House incorporates the administrative offices of the Society, conference halls,
2
The Corpse of Fr Preca, Blata l-Bajda
In the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miracolous Medal, a flight of stairs behind the altar takes you to
PILGRIMAGE FOUR - After 1962
1
The Mother House, Blata l-Bajda

Built on a site of a former cemetry, the Mother House incorporates the administrative offices of the Society, conference halls, a spacious auditorium, the archives, Preca Library, and the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. After World War II, Fr Preca became conscious of the need for a central house where the Members could be radunated and addressed. Up to that time such meetings were held in various churches and chapels. The Society acquired the site in the early 50s. The foundation stone was laid in 1954. For Fr Preca, this building could serve as a forge for the destruction of sin.


Let us pray

O Lord, grant that we abhor sin to be able to shun it and to avoid all that keeps us away from you, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

2
The Corpse of Fr Preca, Blata l-Bajda

In the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miracolous Medal, a flight of stairs behind the altar takes you to a wax image of Fr Preca, the most prominent and influential apostle of 20th century Malta. With his arms bent on his chest, with one hand opening three fingers and the other hand showing just one, the Founder is shown preaching silently on the Holy Trinity. Underneath the wax image, behind slabs of yellowish marble, lay the corpse of Fr Preca. It is still in an excellent state of preservation. It was exhumed on 7 July 2000 and was brought to this place of worship on 21 April 2001 from the crypt where it was buried.


Let us pray

O Lord, grant that through the example of Fr Preca, we take our sanctity with earnest so that we may become one in you, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

PREV MAP
Hamrun
NEXT MAP
Hamrun