The procession with the bust of St Ursula, patron saint of Gozo since 1620, was held last Sunday after an absence of 50 years. Devotion to the saint began in Gozo in 1614, when Eugenio-Romirez Maldonado, a Knight from Salamanca and Governor of Gozo, donated a bust of the saint with her arm-bone to the Matrice, the present Cathedral of Gozo. The saint was invoked against natural catastrophe and three votive processions, in which the civil authorities also took part, were held throughout the year. One took place on October 21, her feast day, which until 1822, was a holy day and a national festivity in Gozo. This year the procession with the bust of St Ursula was held in the Citadel. It was led by the archdeacon and Gozo diocese vicar general Tarcisio Camilleri, together with the Cathedral Chapter. 

Other activities marking St Ursula Day included folk dance performances, singing of traditional Maltese songs by the Aurora Youth Choir, a concert and a talk.

The bust of St Ursula was restored by Heritage Malta in 2014. St Ursula, reputed to be a missionary princess was a Romano-British Christian. She was martyred by the Huns’ leader near Cologne on October 21, 383 AD.

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