St Rita feast in Valletta
St Rita is widely venerated in Malta, and especially in the parish of St Augustine in Valletta. Many are those who visit her shrine to pray and beseech the intercession of this great 'St of the Impossible'. Just as many attend the annual pilgrimage...
St Rita is widely venerated in Malta, and especially in the parish of St Augustine in Valletta. Many are those who visit her shrine to pray and beseech the intercession of this great 'St of the Impossible'. Just as many attend the annual pilgrimage held in Valletta on her feast day, May 22, during which her statue is carried aloft.
Devotion to this Augustinian saint, who was beatified by Pope Urban VIII in 1627 and canonised by Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) on May 24, 1900, has long been established in Malta. Above the altar of the chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the parish church of St Augustine in Valletta is a sotto quadro of the then Blessed Rita of Cascia. In his book Ġrajjiet l-Agostinjani f'Malta, Fr Ġulju Bonnici, OSA, states that according to the restorer Em. Zammit, this painting is attributed to Giuseppe Bonnici, the same artist who executed the painting of St Joseph at the church of St Barbara in Valletta.
On May 20, 1908, the artist and statuary Vincenzo Maria Cremona from Sliema made a papier mâché statue of St Rita of Cascia which he presented to the then prior Egidju Said. According to the book L-istorja tal-Knisja ta' Santu Wistin il-Belt, Valletta, by Fr Mark Cauchi, OSA: 'The statue was first placed in the chapel of the Holy Sacrament where the Holy Crucifix now hangs. It was later transferred near the Holy Image of the Face of Christ and the present niche was made in 1912, on the initiative of P. Salvu Sacco'.
Vincenzo Maria Cremona had produced many great statuary works for churches in Malta and Gozo and for festive decoration. He is renowned for his San Ġorġ biż-Żiemel (1906) and Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (1878), both made for the parish of St George in Qormi; for the set of statues depicting the Virtues (1895) made for the parish of St George; and the angel that is erected near the Citadel, made for the feast of Santa Marija, both at Victoria, as well as numerous others, including the feasts at Tarxien and Kirkop.
All devotees are urged to celebrate her feast in Valletta on May 22 and to mark the first centenary of the statue, but much more to beseech her to continue to intervene in Divine Mercy on our behalf.