With the bells still echoing across the streets of Mġarr, Fr Edgar Vella concluded the Angelus prayer and turned to the first bidder, setting in motion the annual auction for the honour of carrying the statue of Our Lady of the Assumption during the evening procession.

With a bid of €11,500, in the end it was the Wistin Vella group which won the right to carry the 450-kilogramme statue, brought to the village 90 years ago.

The amount raised was among the highest since the adoption of the euro in 2008 and twice last year’s, although higher bids were made in the 1990s.

Proceeds go towards the parish’s needs, including the feast celebrations.

The statue was carried along the streets yesterday evening by relatives and friends of Mr Vella, whose family has been taking part in this event since the statue was first brought to the village decades ago.

He said the group made an “offer” to take part year after year in order to keep this tradition alive.

The statue, made in Marseille at a cost of £60 and 16 shillings, arrived in Mġarr in 1922, when the church was still being built. It was paid for by the parishioners.

An auction was held the following year – and has been held every year since – for a group of eight bearers and four forċini (those carrying the forked pole used to support the statue at intervals) to win the honour of carrying the statue. Among the rules set by the organising committee, they must be born in Mġarr or have lived there for the past five years.

On the day of the auction, a priest makes three calls for those interested to take part.

Four men yesterday stepped out of the 300-strong crowd and stood around a microphone in an enclosed area as people peered over the barriers to get a better view, their phones held high filming the auction.

Fr Vella first approached the bidder who had won the auction last year and, after that first offer, speaking into the microphone in turn, the men raised their bids to €11,500 within seconds.