Last year, on the occasion of the Special Jubilee Year of Mercy, St Dominic parish church organised for the first time a penitential pilgrimage with the miraculous effigy of the Ecce Homo venerated at the church in Valletta.

Since the pilgrimage was deemed a success, the Dominican community decided to make the event an annual tradition. In fact, this year the pilgrimage will be held on Friday, starting from the church at 6pm, followed with sung Mass by parish priest Michael Camilleri OP, at 7pm.

According to the parish history books, there is nothing recorded about the origin of this effigy. But devotion towards it was already strong at the beginning of the 17th century. Proof of this were the many devotional offerings made by parishioners, including money and precious items.

Many are those who recall what used to be said in the past about this effigy.

In 1864, when works were taking place in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament at the parish church, a man hid inside the chapel when it was about to close and then forced open the effigy’s niche, stealing all the precious items inside.

He also tried to take a silver rod from Christ’s hands but did not manage – to the extent that the bent rod remained stuck in His hands.

The following day, a large crowd gathered inside the church to see what had happened. The Dominican prior removed the rod from Christ’s hands without much pressure, with everyone saying this was a miracle.

From then onwards, the devotion towards Christ’s effigy grew bigger and stronger. It is believed that after some time the thief returned all the stolen items during confession.