Mtarfa

St.Lucy.

In the past, Mtarfa formed part of the parish of St Paul’s of Rabat. In 2000 Archbishop Mercieca made it an Autonomous Pastoral Zone. In 2004, the same Archbishop declared Mtarfa a Parish and the Pastoral Centre became the Parish Church of St Lucy.

St.Lucy Old chapel

Mtarfa Parish is dedicated to this Saint but members of the family Darmanin from Birgu had built a chapel in the area already in 1500. Bishop Dusina visited the chapel in the year 1575. It is still standing, situated on 'Wied il-Qlejgha' of which one has a beautiful view from the parvis of the chapel.

St Nicholas (tal-Imtarfa)

In his 1575 report, Mons Dusina mentioned an Mtarfa chapel, which was the benefice of a certain Petrus Cubellus, treasurer of the Mdina Cathedral. This church stood on the hill opposite the Cathedral and had views of St Paul’s Bay. Later on, Bishop De Mello gave the benefice of this chapel to Nicolaus Bordino. Still later, Bishop Cargallo gave the benefice to the Jesuits, which case resulted in being referred to the Pope by the beneficiary. In 1613 the Jesuits erected a statue of St Nicholas near the chapel, and while digging its foundations, they found an inscription stating that a pagan temple there dedicated to Proserpina had been rebuilt. (This inscription still exists in a Valletta Museum). There are no records as to when this chapel went out of use and no one knows if this happened during the tenure of the Jesuits or after they were expelled from Malta in 1768. The chapel is long gone but the statue still exists and was scheduled recently among Malta articles of Heritage.

St.Oswald

Mtarfa Barracks was taken over as a hospital during WWI. Until 1921 a barrack room served as a permanent Chapel for personnel stationed there. At the end of WWI a large Military Hospital was built necessitating a larger and proper church. St.Oswald's Garrison Church was designed and built by the Royal Engineers to seat 130 worshippers. The dedication service took place on 12th March 1921.

Since its opening the church was improved with marble steps to the chancel, the sanctuary and the altar. The British Forces left Malta in March 1979, and Mtarfa barracks were adapted for housing and expanded with new buildings for Maltese families. For several years the small old church of St Lucy served the pastoral needs of the people residing at Mtarfa but with the increase in population it became too small. St.Oswald was re-opened for the local residents and consecrated in the Roman Catholic rite but the dedication was kept. Marriages may be held here.