A painting of Our Lady Ta’ Pinu by Italian artist Amadeo Perugino, dated 1619.

In the western Gozitan countryside, known as Id-Deżert, lying west of the Citadel of Victoria, on a rise at the edge of an inland cliff, there arose a chapel of unknown date. The chapel lay near the hamlet of Ta’ Għammar, between the village of Għarb and the hill known as Ta’ Ġordan, with the village of Għasri in the vicinity. From the chapel the sea is visible to the north.

It was first recorded in the archives of the Curia in Gozo, when Bishop Domenico Cubelles visited the chapel. It was noted that it had just been rebuilt and that it belonged to the noble family of ‘The Gentile’ (or Gentili).

In 1575, apostolic visitor Pietro Duzina was delegated by Pope Gregory XII to visit the Maltese islands. In his pastoral visit to the chapel he found it was in a very bad state. He ordered it to be closed and demolished and its duties passed to the parish church, now the cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Gozo.

When demolition began a work­man broke his arm while striking the first blow. This was taken as an omen that the chapel should not be demolished. It was the only chapel on the island to survive Duzina’s decree ordering the demolition of other similar chapels.

Pinu Gauci became the procurator of the chapel in 1598 and its name was changed from ‘Of the Gentile’ to ‘Ta’ Pinu’, meaning ‘Of Philip’ (Filippinu). In 1611, Gauci offered money for its restoration. It was rebuilt, with a stone altar erected and investments for liturgical services provided. Gauci also commissioned the painting of the Assumption of Our Lady for the main altar. This was done in 1619 by Italian artist Amadeo Perugino.

On June 22, 1883, 45-year-old Karmni Grima was walking past the new run-down chapel while returning from her fields near Ta’ Ġurdan, and, on entering the chapel, heard a voice asking her to recite three Hail Marys, in honour of the three days that the Blessed Virgin spent in her tomb following her death before being assumed into heaven in body and soul.

Around the same time that Grima heard the voice of the Blessed Virgin, Franġisk Portelli heard the same voice in the chapel and he said he was asked to spread the devotion towards the hidden wound that Jesus suffered while carrying the Cross. During the following years, miracles were attributed to the intercession or prayers of Our Lady of the Assumption to whom the chapel was dedicated.

Works on the new, neo-Romanesque-style church began on May 30, 1922, on the initiative of the church’s rector Mgr Ġużepp Portelli, and it was consecrated on August 31, 1932. Inside the church are six mosaics, 76 coloured windows and many ex-votos. The bell tower is 61 metres high.

The feast represents the deep Christian belief in the resurrection of the dead

On August 15, 1942, during World War II, Malta was saved from imminent surrender due to starvation and lack of fuel and munitions, by the heavily battered convoy of ‘Operation Pedestal’. With two other naval convoys, namely those of ‘Operation Stoneage’ in November 1942, and ‘Operation Portcullis’ in December 1942, Malta moved from survival and from the defensive to the offensive, culminating in ‘Operation Husky’, the Allied invasion of Sicily.

The interior of the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin in the Kremlin in Moscow.

St Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass on the parvis of the church during his visit to Gozo on May 26, 1990. On April 18, 2010, while visit­ing Malta, Pope Benedict XVI donated and placed a golden rose in front of the painting of Our Lady Ta’ Pinu which was brought over from Gozo to Malta for this special occasion. The Pope invited everybody to “pray to her under the title Queen of the Family”.

The feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, known locally as Santa Maria, is held on August 15. Many traditional land leases and rents, especially but not only for Church property, are settled on this date. The feast is celebrated in two parishes in Gozo, including that of the Victoria cathedral, and in six parishes in Malta. It is one of the oldest feasts in the Christian calendar, and is observed in most European countries. In Italy it is known as the feast of L’Assunta, the As­sump­tion, whence was derived the Christian name ‘Maria Assunta’, common until recently in Malta, and often shortened to ‘Sunta’.

In oriental Christian churches, both Catholic and Orthodox, this feast day is known as that of the Dormition (Sleep) of Our Lady. The Cathedral of the Dormition inside the Kremlin citadel in Moscow was built in 1475-79 on the designs of the Italian architect and engineer Aristotele Fioravanti. Its style and composition was consistent with the strict rules of the Orthodox canon. It was the church where the most important State ceremonies were held, such as the ordination of metropolitans and patriarchs, coronation of tsars and later emperors and public proclamation of State edicts. The cathedral was decorated with the finest examples of ancient Russian art, in particular icons from the 12th to the 17th centuries.

There exist two Christian traditions concerning Our Lady’s death and assumption into heaven. One, a late tradition says that she spent her last years and died in Ephesus in Asia Minor, in today’s Turkey. The second, the Patristic tradition, is that she died in Jerusalem, surrounded by all the surviving apostles except Thomas. When Thomas arrived on the third day after her death, the tomb was found empty. This occurred in Jerusalem in the Valley of Kedron.

A copy of the 17th century Russian icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God, from Kiev, which may be seen at the Greek Catholic church of Our Lady of Damascus in Valletta.

In Amadeo Perugino’s painting at Ta’ Pinu sanctuary, Our Lady is represented draped in blue and red, raised over her tomb, above a cloud and a crescent moon bearing three cherubs, and supported by four angels, two of whom hold a golden crown above her head.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary represents a mystery, transcendental and incomprehensible both to believers and unbelievers. It represents the spiritual reality of the resurrection of the body in consideration of her divine maternity and holiness. The picture represents her glorification by her son, who receives Mary in the heavenly dwellings, both soul and body. In fact, Mary anticipated the resurrection of the body, which Christian believe they will also will experience at the end of time, as is professed in the Creed.

A recently restored 18th century icon of the Dormition of Our Lady is found at the Greek Catholic church of Our Lady of Damascus in Archbishop’s Street, Valletta. This parish church, and that of St Nicholas (Tal-Erwieħ, All Souls) constituted the two Greek parishes in Valletta from the period of the Knights.

The cult of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin is observed by oriental Orthodox and Catholic Churches in places such as Cyprus, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. This bears out the faith and belief that human death is transformed into life by the spiritual and transcendental power of God the Creator, and Jesus His Son our Saviour, the Messiah, who rose from the dead on the third day, and will return to earth in his second coming.

The feast of the Dormition and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin represents the deep Christian belief in the resurrection of the dead, which first occurred in Christ Jesus, and later in that of his mother Mary, the Blessed Virgin.

Acknowledgement
I am indebted to Mgr Archimandrite (Abbot) George Mifsud of the Greek Catholic church of Our Lady of Damascus, Valletta, for information included in this article.