Local Christmas traditions

Valletta decked out for the festivities

Why is it that Christmas preparations seem to come round earlier every year? The race is on to arrive unscathed, yet sometimes you wish to pause and take the time to watch everyone else dashing around for once.

And why not do just that? Surely, this year you can afford to delegate to someone else the joy giving, the cake making and the stress that comes with putting together the Christmas lunch. While you're at it, why not observe someone else's traditions, somewhere else in the globe where they do things differently?

The mouth blown glass tree

So how do the Maltese celebrate Christmas? They still indulge in the usual frantic shopping, they still decorate the major shopping streets with colourful lights, they still adorn real or artificial trees with tasteless ornaments (although this year's Valletta Christmas tree made out of large mouth blown glass baubles is particularly stylish) but they also have some unique traditions of their own.

Napolitan crib on show at St John's CoCathedral

The Crib

Many of the traditions linked to this time are aimed at children and this is one of them. As children, we were sent to the local version of Sunday school, only it was every day - and, without a shred of irony, it was known as Duttrina (indoctrination). For our troubles, just before Christmas, the teachers lovingly crafted a presepju (crib) for each child - a miniature model of the nativity scene constructed in papier mâché, complete with plaster statuettes of the holy family. The tradition of the crib is one that's shared with the southern part of Italy and Sicily. Various towns in Malta exhibit cribs of various sizes and complexity around this time. Some of them can be extremely beautiful. Crib building of the type prevalent in Naples in Malta is said to have been introduced to Malta in the first half of the 17th century but was then the preserve of the rich. In the nineteenth century the Sicilian style of crib was introduced and flourished.

Little processions in the streets

The Children's Procession

Again, this tradition was started in 1907 by the same Society that runs the 'Sunday School'. Even for a heathen such as myself, coming across one of these processions in the streets of Malta can be quite an experience. The children hold candles and carry a statue of the baby Jesus while singing carols.

Photo by tisjir.com

The Honey Ring Cake

Although these days you might find this traditional sweet in all times of the year, the qaghaq tal-ghasel is a Christmas delicacy. The original mixture for the filling seems to have been made up of a cooked mixture of honey, semolina, and a liqueur of sorts. These days it is filled with a treacle mixture (see recipe on tisjir.com).

Spend Christmas & New Year at Valletta G-House

Gay Pride in Valletta

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This week sees various activities for DiversCity, culminating in the Pride March this Saturday. Pride March is about visibility. It's a celebration of diversity. It's there to voice the wish that same sex relationships are recognised by Maltese law. Its also about a bit of fun and should not be seen as antagonistic toward the rest of society. It's as much about inclusivity as about individuality.

Some have commented that the colourful dressing up, common in more well attended Gay Pride Marches in other cities all over the world, are hardly the best way for LGBTs to be taken seriously and to be assimilated within the mainstream. I have known various gay men who describe themselves as 'straight acting'. They are adamant that what they call men with a camp disposition, those who stand out for not fitting into the grey stereotype of the 'virile' man, are a disservice to other gay men. They are equally scornful of lesbians who's demeanor fall short of what they expect women to look and act like. Their use of the phrase 'straight acting' to describe themselves is a clear sign of their repression, and how unwilling they are to accept the beauty of diversity. Assimilation does not mean melting into a mulch of indistinguishable sameness. It means enriching an already heterogeneous society.

Gay Pride is, above all, a celebration of diversity. That is not to say that the fight for equality is not also part and parcel of Pride. Fighting to change the law so that it recognises same sex civil partnership does not mean playing the victim as some would have us believe. And it is not an impossible task, even when one considers the staid two party system ruled by a powerful church institution Malta is lumped with. Look at Spain. It looks as though Ireland will be following suit too. Both have a very strong Catholic Church and yet they acknowledge the need for society to encourage stable partnerships of love.

Here is the programme of events prepared by MGRM. Hope to see you in Valletta on Saturday.

Mon 13 July: Film festival - 'Ma vie en rose' (released 1997; run-time 88 minutes) St James Cavalier, Valletta

Tue 14 July: Film festival - 'Bent' (released 1997; run-time 105 minutes) St James Cavalier, Valletta

Wed 15 July: Women Space. GAIA Foundation, Ghajn Tuffieha

Thurs 16 July: Film festival - 'I can't think straight' (released 2007; run-time 80 minutes) St James Cavalier, Valletta

Sat 18 July (10:00am at City Gate Valletta): PRIDE MARCH
Sat 18 July (20:30): Concert performance with The Pink Singers (London) and Zghazagh Haddiema Nsara choirs. City Theatre, Valletta
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Telling pictures

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The Three Graces at the Irxoxt (Holy Week Celebrations) in Birgu


One Foot in the Grave (M'Xlokk - fishing village)
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Holy week

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the street down from Victory Square in Vittoriosa

This morning I ventured over to Vittoriosa and thought I'd wander down to Victory square for a coffee. It being close to Good Friday, the band club in the square has already started putting up the decorations related to the holy week. I walked down some steps and the paved road that leads from the square towards the water front and noticed some tourists walking out of a relatively modest looking church.

The church turned out to be the Collegiate Church of St Lawrence, one of the most historically venerated churches in Malta. The original building was built on its site in 1090 and the Knights adopted it as their first conventual church in 1530 after enlarging it. It contained many treasures the Knights brought over from Rhodes when, two years later, it was badly damaged in a fire. The present church is that which was built by Lorenzo Gafa' in the 17th century.


The pulpit

Inside I met a wonderful 72 year old volunteer who told me of the town's well known expertise in wood furniture and intarsjar (inlaid wood). He proudly showed me the amazing pulpit in the church as a prime example of such work.


A Mattia Preti

He insisted I have a closer look at the Mattia Preti painting above the altar. It depicts the martyrdom of St Lawrence. Lawrence is said to have been martyred on a gridiron. An interesting anecdote is that during his torture Lawrence cried out "Assum est, inquit, versa et manduca." (This side’s done, turn me over and have a bite). Christians' dark sense of humour never escapes them, it seems!


Spanish statue of Veronica (17th Century)

But what really intrigued me were the wooden sculptures, some imported from Spain and some sculpted by Maltese artists. They represent the different stages of Jesus' Passion. Some are rather gruesome and in normal circumstances (outside of a church) would require parental guidance.


The dead Jesus

The statue of the dead Christ is housed in an old hearse originally used for the funerals of prominent people during the time of the Order of St John. In 1793 a local by the name of Frangisku Demajo sponsored its redecoration with silver a martello.


Ganutell on top of the hearse decorated with hammered silver

Vittoriosa is one of the places one must visit during holy week. Buses number 01 and 04 from Valletta Gate take approximately 20 minutes to arrive in Birgu/Vittoriosa. Otherwise take a water taxi from Customs House.
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Feast of St Joseph

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Returned to Rabat this evening to join my friend Antonio on the occasion of the feast of St Joseph. We watched the statue of the saint be carried out of the church to the sound of shouts from an enthusiastic bunch and the deafening fireworks. We then fought our way through the crowd and into the church where Grandmaster Isle Adam insisted his heart be buried. It is indeed a beautiful church, even more splendid on this occasion when all the best bits are shown off to the faithful (and to infidels such as I).