On February 18, 1908, Bro. Emman­uel Giordano asked Gozo Bishop Giovanni Camilleri for permission to open an institute on Malta’s sister island to provide religious and civil education. On February 22, 1909, Mgr Camilleri welcomed the request and everything seemed to be going in the right direction.

In 1909-1910, Bro. Ephrem left the Sliema community to teach English to Gozitan Seminarians. However, since he was living apart from the community, he was asked to return from the sister island and to join the Cospicua community. With this withdrawal, the plan to open a community and an orphanage in Gozo seemed to disappear.

In 1912, Notary Michele Casolani entrusted the Oratory of Birkirkara to the care of the Brothers as the Salesians could no longer continue with its administration. Bro. Lambert of Jesus, and two others, organised a few language classes and, with the help of catechists, they revived the teaching of Catholic doctrine to children and took spiritual care of that area of Birkirkara.

On the occasion of the International Eucharistic Congress held in Malta in April 1913, the Frères of St Helen’s School organised a musico-literary concert for participants in the congress, which included bishops and other personalities. The concert, which was held in the school hall, was so successful that Mgr Louis-Ernest Dubois, Archbishop of Bourges, France, was reported saying that he was astonished to hear singing and see other forms of the performing arts in French as well. Unfortunately, in 1945, due to the shortage of vocations, the Brothers were constrained to withdraw from Oratorio San Giovanni Battista De La Salle, which today is known as St Dominic Savio Oratory.

Attracted to the style and courage of the Frères, and against strong competition, young people who were about to sit for the Dockyard examination soon crammed the classes at De La Salle College. This contrasted with the Order’s previous difficulty to find enough students to enrol in its school in Vittoriosa.

In 1916-17, the first scholarships at De La Salle College were launched. Successful candidates would join the Dockyard course. Some 400 candidates from all over the island sat for the examination twice a year to fill an average of 30 to 40 places offered after each session. These developments strengthened the Brothers’ determination to move to a more suitable place.

Despite this success, there were times when this college was on the brink of closing down. In 1922, the doom which had been lurking in the background appeared sealed. The Order’s Provincial, Bro. Onesime Marie, was asked by Archbishop of Carthage, Mgr Alexis Lemaître, to take over the school attached to his cathedral. The Provincial had no Brothers to spare for this new venture and he decided to sacrifice one of the Malta communities.

Notwithstanding the fact that the a sizeable and steady number of students attending De La Salle College heralded a bright future, the Provincial ordered the college to be abandoned and all the furniture to be put up for sale. However, the college director, Bro. Augustine, fought a battle of delaying tactics, despite the fact that the Brothers of his community had been given orders to disperse and work in other fields. It was also thanks to the wisdom and zeal of Mgr Michael Gonzi, secretary to Archbishop-Bishop of Malta Mgr Mauro Caruana, that the decision was reversed and the college was saved.

Well-merited success began to crown the Brothers’ untiring efforts. With time, the two original schools, De La Salle College and Stella Maris College, had become too small, but there was no room for expansion on either site.

In 1935, Bro. Augustine Mifsud, director of the Stella Maris community, acquired the site in Gżira where the college is today.

In 1938, Stella Maris College was formally transferred to the new building in Gżira. From an overcrowded building, the Brothers found themselves in the luxury of an airy, spacious building. The number of students was now considered small, and Bro. Augustine campaigned for more boys to be enrolled in the new school. He aimed for 300 boys, and apparently decided he would get them by hook or by crook.

In 1922, the provincial ordered the college to be abandoned. However, the college director fought a battle of delaying tactics. It was also thanks to Michael Gonzi, secretary to the Archbishop-Bishop, that the decision was reversed

Indeed, it is said that he once turned to a statue of St Joseph found in one of the school corridors, took away the lily staff from the saint’s hand and instead suspended a white placard with the number 300 written on it, informing the assembled students that the statue would remain deprived of the staff until the number was reached.

Except for the war period between 1940 and 1945, the college continued to expand and adapt its academic programmes to the needs of the students as they prepared themselves to respond to the latest economic developments of the Maltese islands and beyond.

In July 1935, the Brothers at De La Salle College acquired a large plot of land in Vittoriosa owned by Carmelo Pace of Vittoriosa, known as Il-Ħawli. With the approval of the Superior General, Bro Lambert of Jesus, director of the school from 1929 to 1935, signed a provisional agreement on July 18, confirmed on August 12, between Pace and Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, on behalf of the Brothers.

After eight months of anguish, and of patient and prudent efforts, the Brothers were given the green light to start building the new De La Salle College in June 1936, and on March 29, 1937, the foundation stone of was laid. Dr Joseph Damato was the chief architect. The cramped conditions at Stra­da Buongiorno gave way to spacious grounds, open spaces and impressive views of the nearby Three Cities, of Valletta and part of Grand Harbour. 1938 was the last year the school operated at Strada Buongiorno.

World War II created a new change among the Brothers. Although they were living in a British colony, the Frères of Malta initially formed part of the North Africa province, but with the start of the war they joined the new province of London.

The war disrupted both De La Salle and Stella Maris colleges. The Brothers’ hopes of quick expansion were dashed as they had to be evacuated to safer places. Both college buildings were hit by bombs and this created problems which were by no means trivial.

For a short time, the Carmelites of St Julian’s hosted the staff of Stella Maris College. Still, in spite of the war, everybody connected to the school returned to Gżira, on September 1, 1941, where an underground shelter had been constructed. It interesting to note that due to fears the Greek-Catholic Church of Valletta would be bombed the icon of Our Lady of Damascus at this church was temporarily stored in this shelter.

Meanwhile the Brothers at De La Salle College, being in the harbour area, were in the eye of the storm, and went through a more prolonged ordeal. An air raid on July 6, 1940, damaged the Brothers’ property and shocked them. The follow­ing day, with their morale at its lowest ebb, the community sadly left De la Salle and sought accom­modation with their confrères at the Stella Maris Community, Gżira, where they were welcomed.

Concerned for the education of their students the Brothers asked the Missionary Society of St Paul for permission to use the Oratory at Birkirkara as a temporary school. This was granted, and on August 21, 1940, it was school as usual at Birkirkara. The war was not going to interrupt the Brothers’ mission. But it would take another 43 months for De La Salle College at Tal-Ħawli to reopen after the Brothers solved the myriad problems entailed in getting the damage repaired in as short a time as possible and with the minimum of cost.

For some years, the government had wanted to open a college to prepare teachers for schools in Malta. The idea of setting up local training colleges was suggested in 1942 by Mr C. Ellis, Special Commissioner for Education, in his report to Governor of Malta, Lord Gort. In 1944, Mater Admirabilis Training College for female teachers was opened, and the training college for male teachers followed on October 1, 1947, with Bro. Leo as principal, assisted by Bro. Cuthman and Bro. Alfred.

Under the leadership of Frères who came from London, thoroughly prepared in the field of education, and of other Maltese Brothers, thousands of students received specialised education which en­hanced their pedagogical input in primary and secondary State schools. In 1972, after 25 years of fruitful work, first at Pembroke House, St George’ Bay, and since March 19, 1956, at Ta’ Giorni, the government terminated the contract with the Frères and they had to leave St Michael’s Training College.

1953 marked the golden jubilee of the Brothers’ coming to Malta. It had been half a century of very fruitful apostolate in the sphere of education. De La Salle College, which had by now acquired a very high and wide reputation owing in no small measure to the excellent results obtained in the HM Dockyard Examinations, inaugurated a new wing which was called the Jubilee Wing. Furthermore, with a vision to encourage and nurture young people who wished to embrace the vocation of Christian education, on December 6, 1953, the Frères opened a pre-novitiate, or juniorate, at De La Salle College.

In 1959, HM Dockyard was taken over by Messrs. Bailey (Malta) Ltd and the new owners planned that five years’ later it would be used for commercial trade and industry. This meant that no further examinations would be necessary for candidates to enter the Dockyard. As a result, the Dockyard section at De La Salle College had to be closed down. This was a great disappointment to the Brothers for this section had been a very important one, having heightened the school’s prestige over the many years of its existence.

The Brothers in Malta are facing the grim reality that they are a dying breed. There are just 13 Maltese Brothers left – six at De La Salle and seven at Stella Maris – all of whom are well into pensionable age

In 1965, at the invitation of the government, two Brothers began to teach at St Philip Neri School, Ħamrun, where youths used to be sent following a court judgment. Once again, the Brothers found themselves involved in work among the underprivileged. The project in this specialised school lasted for only two years due to lack of vocations.

In 1968, the Brothers in Malta gained semi-autonomy and were given the right to elect a Maltese provincial superior.

In 1970, the Brothers built St Benild School in Sliema. The main aim was to help children with special educational needs due to parental problems. However, the change of government in the 1971 election hailed a change of direction for the educational sector in Malta, and the project was changed into a kindergarten instead. Young children spent their first two school years there before they entered Stella Maris College.

In 1978 the Brothers acquired Santa Maria House at Wied Żejtuna, near Għadira in Mellieħa. Their aim was to open a novitiate for postulants who wished to join in the Brothers’ vocation. The project progressed for some years. Retreats or days of recollection and prayer started being organising for groups or priests who wished to benefit from the serene and prayerful atmosphere that the house offered due to its position by the sea and away from traffic.

History is interwoven with a degree of irony. Two young Gozitan brothers from Xewkija, Emmanuel and Antoine Borg, who were once residents in St Joseph’s Orphanage, Ħamrun, in July 1909 chose the Brothers’ vocation and joined their novitiate. The former was named Bro. Samuel Vital and the latter Bro. Sylvestre Antoine. Yet, Gozo, which offered these first vocations to the Brothers, was destined to remain without the presence of the Brothers despite all efforts made to implant the Lasallian seed on the island.

Today, the Brothers administer De La Salle College, Vittoriosa, a school that offers primary, secondary and post-secondary education. The sixth form was opened in 1964. The Brothers also direct Stella Maris College, a primary and secondary school and a retreat centre in Mellieħa.

Unfortunately, as they approach the third centenary since the death of their founder, St John Baptist De La Salle, the Brothers in Malta are facing the grim reality that they are a dying breed. There are just 13 Maltese Brothers left – six at the De La Salle community and seven at Stella Maris – all of whom are well into pensionable age. This is a very different situation from half a century ago when several young, enthusiastic men formed part of these communities.

It seems that brotherhood today is no longer a popular vocation. This may also be due to the fact that nowadays people shun commitment of any kind. Very often, people question why they should become Brothers when they can still be teachers and earn money, start their own family, and live freely, while being good Christians.

This crisis of vocations is hitting all of Europe, to the extent that there is just one Brothers’ novitiate for all of the continent when in the past there used to be a novitiate or two in each country. The situation in Malta has become so desperate that the Brothers had to take the difficult decision of shifting powers to lay people in what is being described as a ‘shared mission’ or a ‘vow of association’.

The infuential posts in public life that many of the Brothers’ past students now fill are a clear sign that the years spent with the Brothers were not wasted. On the contrary, they were fruitful years of which the Brothers should be justly proud. Day after day, they sowed valuable truth, implanted sound habits, educated minds and guided hearts in line with Church teaching. All this is borne out when high authorities speak about the Brothers and their invaluable impact on the educational life in Malta.

Today, the Brothers’ vision and mission continues to develop. Today’s youths need the school that they founded in Malta in 1903 more than ever before.

May God continue to call teachers to this special ministry. Although fewer people feel called to dedicate their lives to live like the Brothers, may there be many who – inspired by St John Baptist De La Salle, “the guiding star of the 20th century” as Pope Leo XIII called him, and that of the Brothers – continue to commit themselves to living the faith, to see their work as service and to build communities where everyone learns how to truly be brothers and sisters to one another.

(Concluded)