Mass in Maltese at St Peter's Basilica

While we are all elated and at the same time thankful to God that St Gorg Preca's holiness was recognised by the Catholic Church and therefore he is for us a role-model and at the same time our intercessor before God's throne, for the record, I would like to make right one little thing.

Tuesday's thanksgiving Mass at St Peter's was not the first Mass in Maltese to be celebrated at St Peter's Basilica.

In 1968, when Mgr Michael Gonzi, then Archbishop of Malta, was leading a Maltese pilgrimage he said Mass in Maltese at the Papal Altar (the main altar). I was present at that event since that summer I was serving at St Peter's with a group of other Maltese altar-servers and I was the one who did the reading.

Still, Tuesday's thanksgiving Mass might be the first to have such a large congregation of Maltese gathered at St Peter's.

Apart from all this, right now, what's important is to discern how St Gorg Preca's life and teachings speak to us and how we can apply his teachings in our everyday life.

St Gorg Preca is not a gift given only to the members of the Society of Christian Doctrine (to whom every Maltese should be grateful) but also to all Maltese and to the Catholic Church at large. Let us appreciate what we are given and let us make good use of it.