Malta
Easter in capital R., capital C., Malta is an all out affair! For two people who feel most spiritual in the hands of Mother Nature, Maltese Easter was a weird and wonderful event. It started a week before Easter Sunday, “Holy Week” and ended at sundown on Easter Sunday (Easter Monday is not celebrated here), rung in and out with peeling church bells.
From dusk on Maundy Thursday to about midday on Good Friday, the Maltese go on a pilgrimage through seven churches to view religious art that is draped in black cloth. Black cloth decorated with ornate gold symbols were hanging on many doorways and balcony railings.
 |
| This lovely chapel, probably the simplest in Malta, is perched on a cliff overlooking a green plateau and the lower blue sea. Inside it was decorated for Easter with tables set up along the walls. On each was a doll-house size setting of an event during the last week of Christ's life. On the altar were flat, very decorated pie-like offerings. Another Holy Week tradition. |
At dusk on Good Friday, after a mass, many of the villages put on an equivalent of a funeral procession - very serious and solemn. The many children in the procession we viewed in Valletta didn’t crack a smile and the crowds watching were quiet and hushed. The marching bands played funeral marches. The float equivalents were plaster figures, many hundreds of years old, depicting biblical characters and ended with Christ hauling the cross and then the crucified Christ. Eight men carried these floats - the figures were on platforms supported by four rafters/poles - four in the front and four in the back, in a strange coordinated wide-stepped walk, making the figure above them sway and bounce. We were told by a local woman that these dedicated men had calluses on their shoulders from carrying these heavy figures. Every so often the procession stopped to give the men a breather, resting the rafters on forked wooden poles. Between the floats children and men in costume carried all kinds of symbolic accessories. Many of the men had extravagant costumes of Roman soldiers. It was quite a sight.
 |
| A poor example of the black cloths hanging from windows in mourning. |
Apparently, on Saturday the churches are darkened. After an evening mass, the lights are slowly, at first, turned back on and then more quickly ending with every bulb in the church turned on symbolizing the resurection.
We attempted to view the Easter Sunday procession which reportedly involved men running with the figure of Christ in a more joyous celebration of his rising. However, we missed it.
There are lots of special foods to eat - cakes, cookies, savoury pastries, breads. What we tried was yummy. And Easter Day dinner of lamb is shared by family.
We did not partake in very much but witnessed from afar the passion that many demonstrated over the several day period. From a guy working in a chandlery to a restaurant owner to a woman sitting beside us, they were happy to describe their traditions, their excitement growing as they sensed our respectful, bewildered interest. Ninety-eight per cent of the Maltese population identifies as Catholic. We were lucky to be here to see them celebrate their most important holiday of the year.
I celebrated by picking myself a big bouquet of wildflowers - the first bouquet that Milly has had - in a vase of great family memories!
 |
| My Easter. |
No comments:
Post a Comment