Malta & Gozo

MALTA:

Hamrun: 

The only Parish Church dedicated to San Gejtanu within the Maltese Islands is in Hamrun. Extensive details about the Church itself, its contents connected with the Saint and the presence of other depictions of San Gejtanu in Hamrun are on a separate page reached from the list of countries. Malta-Hamrun.

Birgu:

In the Parish Church of St.Lawrence, during the time of Bishop Balaguer in the middle of the 17th century, there was an altar dedicated to San Gejtanu. At least since the 1722 visit of Bishop Molina in this Church there has been and still exists, a canvas over the St.Catherine altar with Our Lady holding Baby Jesus, St.Catherine herself, St.Anthony and San Gejtanu.  There are records to show that in 1739, the feast of San Gejtanu started to be celebrated in this Church. 

Birkirkara:

In the transept at the altar of the Crucifixion in the Basilica of St Helen in Birkirkara, there is a painting above a side altar, depicting San Gejtanu, done in 1780 by an unknown painter. 

Floriana: 

In the sacristy of the parish church of St Publius our saint is present in a painting.

In the Police Headquarters chapel there is a contemporary painting, a small copy of the titular picture in Hamrun. 

Ghaxaq:

One of the side altars in the Ghaxaq parish church has a painting representing the Blessed Trinity. Jesus the Saviour stands in the middle with the Holy Spirit as a Dove over His head, and further up is God the Father. At Jesus' feet, on the sides are two Saints, San Gejtanu kneeling on the left holding a book with the Theatine rule and St Anthony standing at the right. Rokku Buhagiar painted the canvas in 1759 and this date is shown at the bottom. 

Marsascala:

In Malta one could already find a chapel dedicated to our Saint when he was still a Blessed (he was declared a Saint in 1671 by Pope Clement X). This chapel was built by George Mamo, a well to do local land owner, as a benefice together with a nearby tower near the fishing village of Marsaskala in 1657. It has always been loved by local fishermen and certain graffiti on the facade of the chapel witness to this devotion. In the 1980's a small room was built on the roof to serve as a secluded place for priests wanting to spend some time in quiet and prayer, but it was soon removed on the authorities insistence that it was an environmental eyesore. Mass is still celebrated here every Saturday evening. In this small church one can also find an old titular picture of unknown provenance showing San Gejtanu surrounded by cherubs. 

Mdina:

In the Cathedral of St Paul in the old capital, one of the altars on the right aisle is dedicated to Our Lady and San Gejtanu and has a canvas depicting the Saint with Our Lady and Baby Jesus. There is also a bishop, a knight and other figures in this canvas. This is the work of the school of Mattia Preti.

In the Cathedral Museum of Mdina there is also a painting of San Gejtanu pointing at a passage from Scripture and holding a lily.

In the sacristy of Our Lady of Carmel church, a painting of our Saint holding Baby Jesus, from an unknown artist.

Mellieha:

Here the Parish church too has, on the first altar on the left, an exquisite painting by Giuseppe Cali done in 1899 showing San Gejtanu accepting Baby Jesus from the hands of Mary. The painter accentuated the life of poverty of Gejtanu by the depiction of a torn sock at the heel of one of his feet. This fact was a hint to Bishop PaceForno for not choosing him to paint the Hamrun titular picture. This painting done around the turn of the century before the Hamrun titular was up and after Hamrun was already established under the patronage of the Saint. In fact three paintings in our church belong to this particular painter G.Cali'. 

Mosta:

The small chapel of St.Anthony Abbott in Mosta has one altar with a titular picture and on each side of this, lower down, there is a smaller painting. The one to the Left of the altar shows the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St.Anthony of Padova and San Gejtanu in black cassock. This is the work of a local artist of the 18th Century.

Mqabba:

In the Mqabba Parish church, the first altar on the left is known as the altar of St.Anthony, but the painting over the altar also depicts Our Lady with the Child Jesus and also San Gejtanu. When in 1745 Bishop Alpheran de Bussan visited this church, he found this altar in good condition and the painting framed in stone. 

Naxxar:

The Naxxar Parish museum has a painting of San Gejtanu in his vision. It depicts the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus and Saints Gejtanu, Paul, John the Evangelist, and Francis of Padova. It is documented to Buhagiar and appears to have been executed between October 1745, (when 2.6 scudi were paid for its stretcher), and January 1746, (when Buhagiar received 71 scudi for the work). The latter included 3 scudi for the canvas. The modeling of figures and the brushwork is very similar to that of his Virgin of Charity in the Zebbug parish church. The painting used to be the titular of the altar of Saints Paul and Cajetan in the Naxxar parish church. A new niche for the titular statue of Our Lady has taken the place of an altar over which this painting once stood in the Parish Church. 

Qrendi: 

Around the verandah in front of Our Lady of Mercy church in Qrendi, there is a set of limestone statues of saints in niches among which is San Gejtanu standing in priestly garb and holding a spray of lilies in his left arm. The outside of this church was lately restored including the statues.

The titular picture in this same church shows Our Lady with the Child Jesus, seated on a crescent moon surrounded by angles. San Gejtanu too can be seen, standing, book in hand with lilies at his feet. He is on the lower right of the picture while some souls in Purgatory can be seen at the lower left. The work is attributed to a well-known Maltese artist, Guzeppe D’Arena. 

Rahal Gdid (Paola): 

In the century old Addolorata cemetery of this town, there exist two individual graves with statues of San Gejtanu over them, one of these shows him with St.Lawrence.

The other in the newer addition to this cemetery there is a headstone in black marble over a family grave. A copy of the Hamrun titular picture by Gagliardi is carved on it.

Siggiewi:

The Parish church of St Nicholas has a small 'sottoquadro' painting of San Gejtanu underneath the main painting over the altar of the Virgin Mary. 

The Saint also appears in his surplice and stole on the altar of the right transept in the painting of St.Andrea Avellino. 

San Gejtanu has his own altar and canvas in the church of St.John Baptist in the same village. This painting is by Enrico Regnaud.

At #77 Sta. Margerita Str. in Siggiewi there is one of the very few niches with the statue of the Saint that can be found on the Maltese islands.

In the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Providence, above a door, we can find a Painting of our Saint in priestly garb.

Valletta:

San Gejtanu is well represented in the Collegiate church of St Paul Shipwrecked, in the capital. He appears on a canvas with Our Lady, St Agatha and other saints and angels over an altar on the left transept. This painting was done in 1852 by Guzeppi Hyzler. 

Another two small lateral paintings close to the ceiling also of the Saint, flank this picture. One shows him giving alms to the poor and the other tending the sick.  

In this same Valletta Church, silver ornaments depicting our Saint abound: *A silver bust of San Gejtanu with pursed lips known by the nickname of Saffarielu, is taken out on display for his feast on the above altar.  

*Also in front of this same altar is a silver 'avant'artal' or front cover altar decoration with San Gejtanu's vision in the middle.

*In front of the Main Altar of this Church there also hangs a silver Sanctuary Lamp showing our Saint on one of the facets. 

*Again, in the hall of the Museum 'Domus Pauli' of this same Collegiate church of Valletta, there is another canvas of the Saint by an unknown artist in the style of 16th century painters like Buhagiar or Zahra.

The same painter Frangisku Zahra (1680 - 1765) who painted the image of the Saint in Naxxar, painted another San Gejtanu, which we can find at the church of St. Catherine of Italy in the capital city of Valletta.

In the church of St Nicholas commonly known as All Souls (Tal-Erwieh), a small round painting by Favray of San Gejtanu receiving Baby Jesus from Our Lady's hands.

Also in the Capital city of Valletta, there is a private historical house called Casa rocca piccola, owned by Baron Testaferrata. It dates from the time of the Knights. It has a chapel dedicated to San Gaejtanu showing him in his vision on a painting by a local artist.

In the first building that was erected in Valletta after the Great Siege of 1565, in the church of Our Lady of Victories, there is a small oval painting on the left side of the altar of St Philip Neri. This shows the Saint hugging the Crucified Christ to whom he was wholly devoted.

Zabbar:

A painting of San Gejtanu with an ornate gilt frame can be found in the parish church of Our Lady of Graces at Zabbar. 

Zebbug (Malta):

Another niche can be found in Zebbug, a neighbouring village, precisely at #11-12 Triq Hali. This niche was built in 1749 as the inscription about indulgences below it vouches.

In the sacristy of the parish church of St Philip in this same village there is also a small painting of San Gejtanu.

Zejtun: 

This town has a small picture of the Saint on the altar of Our Lady of Consolation in the parish church.

In a small niche, a small copy of a Hamrun feast statue of the Saint, exists in the corner of a narrow alley of this town. 

Another small painting of our Saint exists in the parish museum.

Zurrieq: 

At the church in Bubaqra, one can find a small elliptical painting  of the Saint which could have been a sottoquadro. This rendition looks fairly old and needs a good restoration.

Gozo:

Fontana:

On the outskirts of Rabat in this small village on the way to Xlendi, a statue of San Gejtanu was given to the church by a certain Karmena, a devotee from Hamrun who went to live there with her Gozitan husband Gorg Xuereb in 1968. This statue made by sculptor Wistin Camilleri, is taken out and decorated for the feast of the Saint every year when a Mass in the Saint's honour is celebrated. Although the posture is similar to the Hamrun statue, the figures are separate.

Ghasri:

In the sacristy of the Patronage of Our Lady church of Ghasri, one can find an old painting of unknown origin showing San Gejtanu receiving Baby Jesus from Our Lady. The figures are by no means beautiful to look at, but the presence of the image of our Saint in this church is a kind of consolation for us. 

Mgarr:

On the neighbouring island of Gozo, as soon as one disembarks from the ferry at Mgarr Harbour, one can see Fort Chambray on the hill on the left. The bastion overlooking the harbour is San Gejtanu bastion. 

Victoria:

The Basilica of St George in the main town of Rabat, has a unique connection with San Gejtanu. It started on the 7th August 1672 when the foundation stone of the church itself was laid on the Saint's feast day.  San Gejtanu is visually present in three pictures at the basilica museum: 

*On a small deteriorating canvas by Filippu Cosimo S.J. (In storage)   

*He is also on a bigger painting, probably a 1678 copy of a painting by L.Massari. This was the altarpiece on the right transept.   

*Still another one can be found in the Museum of this Basilica this time painted by Nicola Buhagiar in the 18th century. This one was commissioned by the heirs of Giovanni Cardona to replace the altarpiece above. Later on the altar itself gave way to an entrance to the chapel of the Holy Sacrament.

An unusual devotion to the Nativity was begun at San Gorg in 1745. A wax statuette of a reclining baby representing Our Lady, il-Bambina, was placed in a glass case on the altar of San Gejtanu. At first it appealed to the imagination of many but its popularity soon abated.

Times of Malta - Sat Jun 21 2014  Antoine Vassallo Victoria

From Gozo to Ħamrun: The devotion to San Gejtanu in these islands was probably born in Gozo where the foundation stone to rebuild the church of St George was laid on August 7, 1672, the liturgical day of San Gejtanu, just one year after the canonization. Mgr Gaetano Pace Forno (who, as Malta bishop, named Ħamrun’s new parish) was born in Victoria, a clear connection! Two St Cajetan paintings, formerly hanging at St George’s, are now exhibited at Il-Ħaġar museum in Victoria. One of these, also restored by Prevarti through ERDF funding (like the museum itself), is from those early days: the saint is not shown in the now traditional iconographic image with Baby Jesus.

Up and coming Maltese Artists:

San Gejtanu is the subject of some modern Maltese artists:

One is Mario Baldacchino and another Robert Bartolo: