They come in hundreds to see her, just to take a look at that tender loving face. Although the feast is celebrated in Fgura, Kalkara, Kirkop and Gozo, the massive amount of people that enter Valletta for the feast of Our Lady of Carmel is enormous.

Some look upon her face for some favour granted while others silently beg for some favour to be granted to them. Each one of us finds himself tormented by worries of one kind or another and, because we are in some sense infinite, we are always able to make room for still more. Many of these worries are, to put it very simply, misdirected and, consequently, have to be eliminated from our lives.

At times, nonetheless, our worries are quite well founded and even noble in their concern for others but we are too weak to bear them single-handedly. Still, even less are we able to resolve them. Worry can paralyse and if we would live a full life we have to give our worries to someone else to carry. But there is someone who desires to do just that. There is Mary, mother of God, willing to do just that because she loves us more than any other human being could love us.

Our faith in her should not allow us to become spiritual dwarfs. Our life of faith in her must grow and develop just as our physical life does. The devotion shown towards the Madonna should not only be once a year but every day of our lives. When we call upon her, we are somehow protected from all the evil and worry which surrounds us.

It is no wonder that many people do their utmost to get to Valletta for Mary's feast (on June 11) for Mary is instrumental in showing us that love does not mean to be moved by another, to feel something towards another, to let oneself go, to admire another or desire another, to want to possess another but love is essentially the gift of oneself to another and to others.