‘I never missed the feast day in 91 years’
The statue of St Helen may be 175 years old but it still is up for a race.
As the traditional morning procession reached the parish square in Birkirkara, the statue bearers flexed their shoulder muscles and, in a concerted effort, sped up the steps of the parvis holding it up high.
The run was met with euphoric jubilation by the thousands of Karkariżi gathered in the pjazza, singing along with the band playing the anthem marking the saint as “the chosen one”.
The heat – it was 33°C yesterday – did nothing to stifle the people’s enthusiasm.
They stood shoulder to shoulder, in their Sunday best – suits, heels and gold jewellery – vying for the best spot to see the effigy of their beloved patron saint.
“I would never miss this for anything,” said Elena Fenech, 67, who prays to her namesake every day.
The large wooden statue carved by master-sculptor Salvu Psaila is the pride of the Karkariżi.
“Make sure you write down that we have the most impressive statue in the world,” said Marlyn Camilleri, 57.
She fanned herself in an attempt to ward off the heat as she proudly pointed out it is the only feast in Malta where the procession is held in the morning. “We want to be original,” she joked.
The procession leaves the basilica at exactly 8 a.m. and returns to a jam-packed church at 10.45 a.m.
As the procession reached the square, John Muscat, 74, barely took his eyes off the statue.
“We are so lucky to have such a beautiful feast. I can’t even bring myself to talk to you about it because I get all emotional,” he said, his eyes welling up.
Perhaps the oldest in the congregation was Vincent Grech. In all of his 91 years he never missed the feast day.
“Even as a baby, my mother brought me here. You will always find me here to celebrate the feast of St Helen,” he said, flanked by his two daughters, who are equally passionate about the event.
Mr Grech recalled the day that the largest bell on the island was installed in the belfry in 1932: “They gave us a day off school to come and watch it being put in place. I still remember it to this day.”
Some years later he was appointed as one of the bell ringers, which he said, “was an honour”.
Most of the people approached seemed to agree that the love of the feast is inherited.
Paul Buhagiar, secretary of the feast committee, was busy directing the procession, aided by his five-year old son who was testing his walkie-talkie.
“Our love of the feast is passed down from generation to the next. That’s why it means so much to us,” he said. As if on cue, little Jean-Pierre squeezed his father’s hand and said: “I’m a Karkariż and I love St Helen!”
For David Borg, 33, who is involved in the street decoration, the feast is the be-all and end-all.
“I live for the feast all year long. It means everything to me,” he said.
Will he feel the void in the evening when it is all over?
“We’ll start packing up but for us the important thing is that everything goes well.”
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14 Comments
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Judy Vassallo
Aug 21st 2012, 05:33
Thank you for sharing with your readers
Alfred Grech
Aug 20th 2012, 15:17
The Basilica of Birkirkara is majestic - the statue to me is the most beautiful statue we have in Malta and the feast is celebrated very nicely. My wife put this video of last year's feast which I invite you to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwHgmpKiaNA
Joan Nelson
Aug 20th 2012, 16:48
Just watched the Video. Very nice. Thank YOU.
Paul Azzopardi
Aug 20th 2012, 14:46
Im all for keeping the Maltese traditions going , the Fiesta are awesome but I'd like the Parish Priest to tell me out of the thousands spent on decorating his and his parish's church and time polishing the Gold and money spent from their club and the money collected through out the year....How much of that has been set aside for the Children....Our Maltese children that live with out parents and those good hearted nuns who need help to put a roof upon their heads....which part of the celebration will be contributed to them???
I would rather see those childrens' smile than the drunken grin of one of Sta Helena revellers...the best he'll get is a hangover or into a fight....
P. Attard
Aug 20th 2012, 17:49
For your information, the parish priest here is called the 'prepostu'. He came up with the idea, for the past five years or so, for people to donate EUR 8 instead of the traditional flower bouquet in front of the statue. The money collected is then donated to a different institute, and not necessarily in Birkirkara itself. I do not consider myself an 'iffissat' regarding the local festa, but I appreciate the good work done by so many volunteers; considering that the town is the biggest in Malta and most of its streets are fully decorated every year!
John Farrugia
Aug 20th 2012, 19:59
I can't understand why any money connected to any church occasion/project has to be ruled as waste of money that should have gone to the poor. First of all the church assists so many people, be it education,homes, missionary work, etc. Secondly, the feasts, beautiful basilicas,monuments and the rest serve to generate business and tourism, thus feeding so many families through the work involved.
Most important, to you and all who think like you, can you tell us how much of the money you spend in eating out, going on holiday, having a couple of beers,etc. are you going to set aside for the poor?
Anthony Pace
Aug 20th 2012, 11:15
Time to move forward with the twentifirst century. An evening procession will generate more wealth for the parish which holds a number of marches starting on the Monday before the feast day.
The concelebrated mass could be held before the procession ending up with a display of fireworks. No early morning mortali. Think of the night workers returning from work in the morning. It is pure selfishness on the part oof the older clergy to hold on to something that is outdated.
G Cauchi
Aug 20th 2012, 12:17
I'm 16 years old and I wake up at 6 in the morning every year to go out and watch Saint Helen coming out gloriously from the church. It's a long tradition in our village and we would do nothing to change it. It is not outdated, it is a tradition.
We don't care about the wealth. We have our own way to celebrate the feast. Apart from that every village have morning fireworks not just us, who have the tradition of celebrating the procession in the morning. Apart from that almost everyone in Birkirkara is not at home during this procession, especially the older ones who love Saint Helen with big passion.
The clergy also love celebrating the feast in the morning as most of them have been in this parish for long even if they don't happen to be from Birkirkara, so they got used to it now.
Hope you understand that tradition will never change.
David Smith
Aug 20th 2012, 12:22
You have no idea what you're talking about! The feast is not held in the morning because "the older clergy are being selfish"!!! Don't you think they would prefer an evening procession, when it's probably cooler? It's the whole community of Birkirkara-feast-lovers and participants who want the procession to be held in the morning, considering it a privilege and an honour.
E. De Marco
Aug 20th 2012, 11:11
No information as to why St.Helen is so revered in Birkirkara. St.Helen (249-329) found the True Cross of Jerusalem & for many centuries, devotion to St Helen has been linked to devotion to the Holy Cross.
But there is another, sadder fact of Helen's life. After 22 years of marriage, Helen's husband, Constantius, divorced her in order to make a politically advantageous marriage with a young woman who was a member of Rome's Imperial family.
For most of the 1700 years since Helen's death, divorce was rare, even among non-Catholics, let alone between Catholics, it was unthinkable.Clearly, St. Helen would be a natural choice as patron of divorced and divorcing people, seeing that divorce has also been accepted in Malta just last year.
Anthony Pace
Aug 20th 2012, 12:34
She might have been a stable hand or inn keeper of some sort in earlier life according to legend and might not have been married at all but might have been a concubine to Constatine's father who eventually became Emperor!!! She was exhalted to the level of Augusta by her son around 325AD.
She could be the patron saint for the divorced but seeing that B'Kara was one of the two/three districts who did not vote for divorce that might be difficult.
Daniel Laus
Aug 20th 2012, 10:32
Honestly I can't blame him for never missing the feast of Saint Helen in Birkirkara, since it is one of the most wonderful village festa in Malta and Gozo and in fact the Collegiate Basilica and the Titular statue of St. Helen are loveliest of all - no wonder they are the pride and joy of all Karkarizi.
Joseph Borda
Aug 20th 2012, 14:12
Well said !!!
Claudio Cilia
Aug 20th 2012, 10:11
I was there, It was nice.. but I can't understand how people do not realise that making statues and making them look as if they are the real saints is against God's will ...even paintings supposedly! not to mention the horrendous 'march' where the main attack would be other localities' saints and some extra 'hamallagni' lyrics and 'dancing' .... does God or the saints really want this .. is it only me?
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