THE PARISH CHURCH OF STELLA MARIS.

   The date of 28 th. April 1855 is indeed a memorable one in the annals of Sliema’s history. It was on that day that the foundation stone of Stella Maris Church was laid on a piece of land donated by the Cathedral Chapter. The ever increasing number of residents of what then was a seaside village where eager to see the Church which had to be dedicated to Our Lady Star of the Sea (Stella Maris). Thanks to the innumerable contributions donated towards its building the Church which was built on a plan by architect Joseph Bonavia opened for worship on 11 th. August 1855 – it was blessed by the Vicar General Monsignor Chapelle. A week later the first titular feast was celebrated. 

In his book of 1866 ‘ Descrizione Storica delle Chiese di Malta e Gozo, the author Achille Ferris described the Church which could accommodate 600 persons, as elegant and beautiful.

The Church’s Enlargement

The Church was at the time much smaller. It comprised three altars and today’s side chapels and choir were still not built. Its length reached to were the pulpit stands today. The first titular painting and another on a side altar dedicated to St. Paul were the work of Raffaele Caruana, whilst Giusepe Calleja was the author of the other side altar painting dedicated to St. Francis of Paola.

As a result of the rapid growth of Sliema’s population, the need to have the Church’s status elevated  to that of Vice-Parish was being recognized; separately for the further convenience of the faithful, steps were being taken to have the edifice enlarged. In 1873 the Dominican Fathers of Vittoriosa donated a plot of land situated adjacent to the Church. In 1875 the Cathedral Chapter donated 3,000 skudi as a contribution towards the funds required to have the Church enlarged; Lorenzo Farrugia, one of the Church’s foremost benefactors donated a further sum of money to help in the purchase of the required final piece of land. 

In October 1876 Bishop Carmelo Conti Scicluna gave his authority to have the Church enlarged; thanks to the financial generosity of the Sliema residents the enlargement works were finalized by the end of 1877. With the building of a large dome, two spacious side chapels, the choir and a sacristy the Church was completely transformed. The old façade was retained.  Mr. Emmanuel Bonavia under whose supervision as procurator of the Church, the entire project was completed was showered with praise for his zeal and sense of dedication by the newspapers of the time.

Stella Maris Elevated To The Status Of a Parish

Fr. Carmelo Casha Gerada was entrusted with the spiritual care of the residents during the period when Stella Maris was a vice-parish of Birkirkara. By 1878 Sliema was no longer being considered as a fishing village and summer residence; new roads and the building of town houses, with the consequent influx of new residents saw the locality increase in importance. On Christmas Day of 1878 the Church authorities published a writ authorizing the dismembering of Sliema from the Birkirkara parish boundaries and elevating the Church of Stella Maris to that of a Parish Church – Sliema became a parish on its own with boundaries reaching as far as Msida and St. Julian’s.

 Fr. Vincenzo Francesco Manche’ – Sliema’s First parish Priest.

  On 21 st. January 1884, Mellieha born Fr. Manche’ was installed as Parish Priest. Shortly after the auspicious event, trouble reared its head when the old pique between the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament and the Pia Unione of Our Lady of Sorrows reached its peak. Exercising prudence and good sense Fr. Manche’ managed to bring the feud to a peaceful conclusion.

 The First Years of the New Parish

  The first years were indeed eventful ones. New devotions and spiritual practices were gradually introduced. Apart from the gradual increase in  the solemnity of the feast of Stella Maris, the feasts of Corpus Christi, Our Lady of the Rosary, and Our Lady of Sorrows were introduced.

Fr. Manche’s energy was reflected in the vast number of projects which were undertaken during his tenure of office. The undermentioned are the main tasks undertaken:

1886:    A large Giuseppe Cali’ altar painting  dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows             (destroyed by enemy action on 1 st. March 1942)

1887:    A painting by Giusepe Cali’ on the main apse depicting Our Lady ‘Stella Maris’

1887:    The titular painting sculptured by Vincenzo Cremona was carried for the first time in procession.

1887:    The installation of The Way of the Cross (replaced in 1938)

1889:    Marble flooring was laid throughout the whole Church.

1891:    The Cremona titular statue was replaced by an imported highly artistic French statue.

1891:   A new titular painting of a high artistic value donated by Sir Ferdinando Inglott replaced the Caruana painting.

1891:    A large painting by Lazzaro Pisani representing Our Lady of the Rosary

1892:    A statue of St. Joseph (destroyed by enemy action on 1 st.March 1942)

1892:    Mahogany seats in the choir at the back of the main altar.

1895:    An altar painting by S. Azzopardi Preziosi representing Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

1896:    An altar painting by Lazzaro Pisani representing St. Joseph.

1901:    A silver monstrance.

1901:    Six statues of the apostles sculptured by Carlo Darmanin.

1906/9  The old façade is dismantled and the present one erected.

1909:    A statue of Our Lady of The Rosary (destroyed by enemy action on 1 st. march 1942)

1915:    The titular statue and pedestal were guilded at Coleiro Guilders.

It would not be amiss to mention that in the period between the last twenty years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel used to be celebrated on the last Sunday in July with great solemnity.

In the meantime the feast of Stella Maris showed an upward increase in solemnity and popularity. As was the custom at the time church music was given great importance and it was thanks to Maestro Ferdinando Camilleri’s musical talents that Stella Maris was blessed with an abundance of sacred music that contributed to the solemnity of the titular feast. His well known composition Messa Solenne Stella Maris (1910) received nothing but praise from the time’s foremost music critics.

His ‘Inno a Maria Vergine Stella del Mare’(1906) popularly known as ‘L’Innu L-Kbir’ is still played to this day by the Stella Maris Band which he founded in 1914 on the insistence of the then ageing Parish Priest. Parish Priest Manche’ died in 1918 and he was succeeded by Senglea born Fr. Raphael Capurro. During the same year Sliema’s second Parish dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was created

Parish Priest Capurro was a highly cultured priest who mainly distinguished himself with his preaching both in Maltese as well as in Italian. In 1930 he organized with great pomp and solemnity the golden jubilee of the erection of the parish (it is said that the celebrations were held two years after the original anniversary due to lack of funds). For the occasion a mahogany pulpit manufactured by the eminent Alfredo Zarb was inaugurated. During his tenure of office new damask was purchased and with the help of Fathers Carmelo Micallef and Edmondo Tabone a new set of five bells manufactured by the Angelo Bianchi foundery of Varese were installed in the steeples in August 1937. A new set of bronze Way of the Cross images which was manufactured by the same foundery was put in place in 1938.

 The period of Capurro’s term of office was characterized by a  large increase in the number of Sliema residents; this was reflected by the erection of the third parish of St. Gregory the Great in 1940.  During the cruel war years Fr. Capurro showed great leadership and was always present when parishioners’ families were hit by tragedies.

When the ravages of war where at their worst Fr. Capurro ended his term of office to be succeeded by the young Sliema born Fr. Joseph Inguanez. On 1 st. March 1942 a month to the day following his installation as Parish Priest, Fr. Inguanez faced the heart breaking experience of seeing the church he loved so much reduced to ruins, and its major works of art destroyed.

He was not daunted by the task ahead and with the help of various volunteers the church was cleared of rubble and the preliminary works commenced shortly after. Although it was partially repaired and opened for divine service in Christmas of the same year, much still had to be done.

Fr. Inguanez dedicated all his energies to the complete rebuilding of the Church, and to see to it that the lost works of art should be replaced. The previous statues of Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of the Rosary, The Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Joseph were replaced, the pulpit was repaired by Alfredo Zarb, and new bronze bass reliefs were added. New paintings by the Italian Mario Caffaro Rore were inaugurated in 1956 when the centenary of the blessing of the church was commemorated.

Although fully engrossed with the reconstruction of the church and its redecoration, Fr. Inguanez took great pains in rebuilding the moral and social conscience of his parishioners and the new  post- war generation. He laid great emphasis on the liturgy and the practice of popular devotions, which were weakened during the war years when a substantial number of parishioners took cover in safer areas in Malta. In June 1948 Mr. Eddie Frendo donated a statue of Our Lady of Fatima,  The enthusiasm and energy of Fr. Inguanez  managed to attract thousands of people from all over the island to welcome the statue which was brought over to Sliema on a boat which crossed Marsamxett harbour.   

In 1966 on his being created monsignor of the Cathedral Chapter, Fr.Inguanez was succeeded by  Sliema born Fr. Guido Calleja who took over as Parish Priest just before the building of the new parish church at St. Julian’s which highlighted his efforts and energies, was completed.

The Church authorities started adopting a system whereby parish priests were being changed more often than was previously the norm. Fr. Carmelo Bianco, Fr. Joseph Bugeja, and Fr. Raphael Pace between them shared thirty years as spiritual leaders of the parish – a period previously occupied by just one incumbent.

In just over 130 years Sliema has grown from a small village to a large cosmopolitan and noisy town. It is divided into four parishes where notwithstanding the current trends the faithful are in their majority still aware of the spiritual benefits derived in each of the four parishes. May all the Sliema parishes continue to shower their blessings on the Sliema residents whose forefathers were born and brought up under the protection of  the locality’s Celestial Patron  - Stella Maris.