Maltese traditions and celebrations!
As a Roman Catholic country, Holy Week and Easter are considered to be the biggest and most celebrated feasts in Malta. Religion, tradition and culture come together, producing solemn festivities. Over the years, the Holy Week has also been adopted on Malta’s cultural calendar. Albeit being a religious feast, it has become a tourist attraction for its lush pageantry and pomp.
The build up to Easter starts approximately 5 weeks before, exactly the day after Carnival – on Ash Wednesday (Ras ir-Randan), which also marks the first day of Lent. Worshippers attend a special mass and the priest marks the sign of the cross on the heads of the believers, with ash from burnt palm leaves. This symbolises grief and redemption of sins. Typically, Catholics start their lent sacrifices on this day. Sacrifices include abstaining from sweet foods for the whole period (40 days) and meat products on Wednesdays and Fridays.
During Lent, certain Maltese villages start their preparations for Holy Week, in particular for the Good Friday Procession. Villagers adorn their balconies with tapestries depicting scenes from the Passion of the Christ, or illuminated wooden crucifixes to enhance the solemn atmosphere during the procession. Churches are adorned with purple damask fabrics – the colour associated with royalty and suffering. Churchgoers can also observe displays of statues of the Passion of the Christ in the churches of those villages that organise Good Friday processions.
All the work that is required to organise processions and for the upkeep, maintenance and enhancements during the years, depends on the generosity and voluntary work by the parishioners. Some devotees even hold private displays of mini statues of the Passion of the Christ, many of which offer free entrance or at a small donation towards charity or local organisations.
Our Lady of Sorrows (id-Duluri) is celebrated on a Friday before Good Friday, and some villages hold a procession of the statue. This is usually accompanied by praying followers, some of whom are dressed in white with their faces covered, and walking either barefoot or on their knees, or dragging heavy chains as penitence or to fulfil vows for favours received through prayer.
A couple of days later, Malta celebrates Palm Sunday (Ħadd il-Palm). This day represents Jesus Christ’s entrance to Jerusalem, and during Sunday morning mass, priests bless palm leaves with holy water and distribute them to devotees. In some villages, a small procession takes place with a few of these villages using actors (on voluntary basis) in period costumes accompanied by a real donkey instead of statues.
The big events kick off on Maundy Thursday (Ħamis ix-Xirka). It is the last day devotees can attend mass, as it represents the Last Supper. During this mass, the priest represents Jesus Christ and washes the feet of 12 men, symbolising the 12 apostles as Jesus did over 2,000 years ago. Various towns and villages in Malta organise reenactments or beautiful life-size displays of the Supper. Traditionally, devotees gather and visit 7 different churches throughout the night, lighting candles and praying. This tradition is called the Seven Visits (Seba’ Visti).
Devotees say special prayers relating to the Stations of the Cross (Via Sagra), which represent Jesus Christ’s torturous route towards Mount Cavalry during the Passion of the Christ. In Siġġiewi, all lights are turned off, leaving traditional oil lamps (fjakkoli) to guide pilgrims towards the Laferla Cross (is-Salib tal-Għolja). This 20th century religious landmark is found on a steep hill and represents the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Mount Golgotha. The procession is held in silence, representing Jesus Christ’s final hours of his passion.
The most solemn day of the period is Good Friday (il-Ġimgħa l-Kbira). No mass is celebrated on this day as it is the day that marks Jesus Christ’s death. Church bells do not ring and flags are at half-mast. Altars are left in the dark, and the Holy Host is no longer in the tabernacle, which is left open. Instead, a sepulchre is set up, decorated with flowers sent to the church by the mourning devotees. In some parishes, the sound of the Ċuqlajta – a wooden clapper – echoes through the streets throughout Friday and Saturday, the noise that is not only symbolic to Good Friday but is also believed to expel evil spirits.
Various Maltese towns or villages present highly sought after pageants and processions, depicting the Passion of the Christ. Voluntary reenactors, dressed in period costumes, accompany beautiful and artistic statues in rehearsed and organised marches. Local traditional bands, playing funeral marches, escort the procession. The procession is not taken lightly. Not only are characters inherited from one generation to another, reenactors take pride in displaying their true sense of devotion and artistic abilities.
In Żejtun, for example, the Roman soldiers march in perfect unison to the sound of the drums and fanfare and the cracking of the whips. Their armours are flawlessly polished as are their helmets with plumes. In some villages, penitents accompany the procession, dressed in white, faces covered, barefoot and sometimes dragging chains. Whether one is a believer or not, or whether it is pure coincidence or not, one cannot negate the fact that the weather at 3pm on Good Friday usually turns cloudy and chilly, even on the hottest of days! It is an eerie, yet spectacular phenomenon that even non-believers comment about! It is the time, according to the Holy Bible, that Jesus Christ said his last words and died on the cross.
Historical fact: it is believed that the first Good Friday procession was organised in Rabat, Malta in the late 16th century.
Easter Sunday (L-Għid il-Kbir) is a triumphant celebration. It is celebrated with a morning mass and in many villages, a procession with the statue of the Risen Lord (L-Irxoxt) follows. Uplifting and celebratory waltzes accompany the statue, with the bearers waltzing the statue with the music. The statue is carried shoulder high, applauded by the crowds and welcomed with showers of confetti from gatherers in balconies. It is truly a joyous celebration, ending with a traditional run with the statue back into the church – a moment that is nerve-wrecking, nail-biting, exciting and moving, to say the least.
In the past, the Church was very strict about fasting during Lent and on Good Friday. However, over the years, the Church has become more lenient. Food mostly associated with Lent, Good Friday and Easter include: fish instead of meat and lamb roast for Easter Sunday lunch. Instead of traditional Maltese bread, special yeast-less ring bread, decorated with almonds is eaten, called Apostle Bread (Qagħaq tal-Appostli). Traditionally, those who abstain from eating sweets during Lent are allowed to eat Kwareżimal – traditional biscuit-like sweets, made with nuts, honey and orange blossom water.
Other traditional Lent sweets are Carob syrup sweets (Karamelli tal-Ħarrub). However, the traditional Easter sweet is the Figolla, which is made of two pastries with a sweet pure almond filling shaped as a heart, fish, bunny or other character. On Easter Sunday, it is traditional for children to present their Figolli to the statue of the Risen Lord in order to be blessed before eating them. In more recent times, the international Easter Egg was introduced in Malta as a more modern Easter tradition.
L-Għid it-tajjeb lil kulħadd!
