I read in this newspaper a letter about the restoration of a chapel in Pietà (November 2).

For history’s sake, the cathedral archives in Mdina show that the Augustinians were in Pietà.

The plague hit Malta in 1592 and, according to Peter Parisi, it claimed 1,593 victims in 18 months. The Pietà chapel was built at the time and dedicated to St Roque, the patron saint of those afflicted by the plague.

In 1617, the Pietà chapel was given to the Augustinians by the Bishop of Malta, Mgr. Baldassare Cagliares, and the present structure was built and dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows (pjetàin Maltese).

In 1653, this chapel and the adjoining religious house were suppressed by Pope Innocent X together with other religious houses. The Austin friars of Pietà joined their confrères of Valletta and never returned to Pietà.

The bishop appointed Don Paolo Intarselva as the first rector of the chapel, giving him the garden and the adjacent houses owned by the Austin friars (notarial acts by Fabrizio Pontremoli).

The Carmelites lost their church and house in Vittoriosa and the Augustinians lost the Pietà chapel and house. In Gozo, the Augustinians and the Franciscan Conventuals lost their church and house too. Yet, four months later, the Augustinians returned to their Gozo church and priory; on February 10, 1654 to be precise (Arc. Cattedrale Ms. 54,fol.74).