Mary moving the crowds

In the gospels we read of crowds following Jesus. It seems they followed him everywhere, hardly leaving him any time to pray and rest. Even while hanging on the cross, a good crowd kept Jesus company, even if not very consoling company. It can be affirmed that Jesus was a man of the crowds, a man whose life and teaching led people to leave their familiar surroundings and gather together to follow a new master and occasionally to get rid of a common enemy.

The same can be said of Christ's mother Mary. The first group of people to assemble around this woman was already considerable. We read of the first disciples gathering together with Mary for prayer after Christ's ascension. It was during such a gathering that Pentecost occurred.

There may be people who doubt the divinity of Christ and the divine motherhood of Mary. But a look at Cospicua's recent history would prove that Mary has not lost her charm, nor her power of attracting crowds. Yes, Cospicua's history proves that Mary was a woman who moved the crowds.

Crowds gathered on June 25, 1905 to celebrate Mary as Malta's queen, a desire expressed through the crowning of the venerated image of the Immaculate Conception, Pietru Pawl Caruana's work of art. It was a ceremony rich with symbolic meaning. People present for the event where witness to the fact that at 8 a.m. crowds of people had already filled the streets of Cospicua to celebrate this event. The ceremonies were to be led by the Pope's delegate Cardinal Domenico Ferrata who arrived at St Teresa's church at 8 a.m. from whence he proceeded to the collegiate parish church of the Immaculate Conception, accompanied by applauding crowds, eager to attend the crowning ceremony of the image of Our Lady. Following a Pontifical Mass, and a speech by the cardinal, at 10 a.m. the crowning ceremony proper began. Throngs followed the ceremony both inside and outside the parish church and when the cardinal placed the golden crown on Mary's head, they all showed their approval through an enthusiastic applause. It was one of those instances where Mary moved the crowds, and where the crowds confessed Christ as their Saviour and Mary as their mother and model.

Crowds from all over Malta gathered again to praise and thank Mary on November 19, 1944, after World War II. It was an event of great joy mingled with some sadness.

It was an occasion for rejoicing as it marked the end of the trials suffered by the Maltese during World War II. Besides, the people of Cospicua were understandably elated for the statue and venerated image of Our Lady after being taken for safety to the Birkirkara collegiate were being returned to their rightful abode - the Cospicua parish church which had remained miraculously intact during the war.

Indeed, the great pilgrimage organised on that occasion was in fulfilment of a vow made years previously. The people of Cospicua had promised that if the church was spared from the destruction brought about by the war, they would organise such a pilgrimage when the war was over. Mary had indeed protected her people's church. Following the Marian year of 1954, the people of Cospicua felt it was time again to gather around Mary, this time in St Margaret's Square, in Cospicua where, on July 24, 1955, Cardinal Federico Tedeschini, adorned the image of Our Lady with eight golden stars.

Crowds gathered again in Cospicua to venerate Mary in more recent times. A particularly great event was Saturday, May 26, 1990, when a great throng from all over Malta gathered to praise Mary, led not by a cardinal but by the great Pope John Paul II himself. The Pope felt so moved by the presence of Mary's statue that he exclaimed: "We are in the presence of Our Lady". Then, the people which had gathered in Cospicua from all over Malta felt one with that crowd which had followed the first Pope's speech in Jerusalem after Pentecost, maybe also in the presence of Mary.

Fifty years after the great pilgrimage of 1944, the people of Cospicua, led by their great pastor, Canon Victor Cilia, felt it was time for another gathering. This time the statue of Our Lady was taken to Birkirkara on November 12, 1994, the same place where it had found refuge during the war and returned to Cospicua followed by thousands on Saturday, November 19, of the same year.

Even if times have changed, and people no longer express their faith in the way they used to in the past, Mary as venerated in Cospicua still attracts great crowds. One could witness this on December 3, 1999 when on the eve of the new millennium, the statue of Our Lady was taken to the Malta Drydocks and welcomed by the workers with great joy. Then, the crowds which gathered around Mary proved their affection for the Mother of the greatest worker of all times, the Carpenter from Nazareth, as the Son of God chose to become known.

Last year crowds again gathered in Cospicua to celebrate the centenary from the crowning of the image of Our Lady. This time, the people were led by Canon Joe Mifsud. It was an occasion for the people of Cospicua to express their faithfulness to the Blessed Mother.

In spite of the changing times which make it difficult for religious traditions and practices to survive and retain their vitality, the people of Cospicua rose to the occasion and through several events, especially the processions held on June 25 and December 8 of that year witnessed their enduring love to this "woman of the crowds." Through a golden halo with which they adorned the statue of Our Lady, on December 7, 2005, they expressed their desire to remain Mary's people. It was still another occasion when Cospicua opened wide its doors to welcome people from all over Malta and even abroad to gather and join Mary's crowd.

This year again, Cospicua would like to welcome all to the celebrations marking Mary's Immaculate Conception. On November 28 crowds gathered in Cospicua's parish church for Mass and the enthronement of Mary's statue. Throughout the days of the novena people flocked daily to the sanctuary for the early morning novena Mass and sermon. People from Cospicua and all over Malta will today be united in singing Mary's praise and testifying to the power and attraction of this "woman of the crowds".