The traditional young boys sermon on Christmas eve is over a century old, with the earliest documented ones taking place at Luqa and Floriana. The crib has a longer history. The Franciscans Conventual already had one at their church in Rabat in 1617. The Christmas Eve procession with the statue of Baby Jesus was organised for the first time in 1921.
Christmas around 77 years ago was confined to church functions in which
the whole town or village took part. A short procession took place within
the church or around the church parvis. Most churches were still lit by
thousands of candles. Only a few had gaslight and electricity was limited
to the capital.
BOYS SERMON
The celebrant, before the solemn midnight Mass, carried the statue of Baby
Jesus from the side altar where it would have been exposed for the
previous nine days, to the high altar. It was this High Mass that the
young boy, dressed as an acolyte (altar boy) delivered the sermon from the
pulpit. The first known Christmas Eve sermon by an altar boy was delivered
by George Sapiano in the parish church of Luqa in 1883.
Before this function, the town or village was quiet, as on other nights. Street lighting was very poor. Total darkness was only broken by some oil lamps. Christmas food, such as honey-rings (qaghaq tal-ghasel) and boiled dried chestnut soup (imbuljuta), were sold. The wine shops were crowded with men drinking red wine. They used to join their friends later, playing the zaqq (bagpipes), the mandolin, the guitar and tambourine.
Fr. George Preca, who in 1907 founded the Society of Christian Doctrine,
known as M.U.S.E.U.M. (Magizter Utinam Sequatur Evangelium Universus
Mundus: Oh Lord may the whole world follow your gospel), had a special
devotion to Christmas. He even celebrated his first soilemn Mass on
Christmas Day 1906 at Ft. Gajetans church in Hamrun.
THE FIRST PROCESSION
Dun Gorgs devotions and activities found public expression on Christmas
Eve of 1921. At one of his meetings early in December with the societys
members in Hamrun, where he had opened the first centre, he expressed his
strong wish that on Christmas Eve members would organise a "manifestation"
with Baby Jesus in all towns and villages.
Dun Gorg did not want a formal procession but a "manifestation" of faith and joy to involve people in the real spirit of Christmas.
The M.U.S.E.U.M. members did their best to organise the event, but their greatest problem was to get hold of a life-size statue of Baby Jesus for the demonstration. Seventy-four years ago such statues were only available in churches and religious communities for midnight Masses. The members of Fr. Precs society tried all possible sources, to no avail, but Fr. Francis Micallef of the Franciscans Conventual in Valletta finally lent them one for the occasion.
At sunset on Christmas Eve, 1921, Fra Diegu Street, Hamrun, was crowded
with children and adults ready to take part in this first procession. Many
provided themselves with lanterns of various kinds - some used in the
Viaticum, others borrowed bicycle headlamps lit by acetylene gas,
oil lamps used on farmers carts or hurricane lamps. Others, mostly youths,
improvised lanterns hewn out of small pumpkins or vegetable marrows with
candles inside. Others brought coloured paper lanterns, Venetian lights,
palm fronds and olive branches. From the beginning it was evident that the
idea had caught the imagination of many and it was going to be a success.
MALTESE CAROLS
The Hamrun members and boys were joined by others from nearby centres in
Marsa and Blata l-Bajda. The procession went along the main Hamrun streets
with the participants singing traditional carols, like Adeste
Fideles (Come all Ye Faithful) and Ninni la Tibkix Izjed (Sleep
Baby, dont cry), written by the Jesuit Fr. Andrew Schembri (1774-1862)
from Luqa for Maltese migrants in Tunis.
The entire population of Hamrun went to watch the procession and a truly Christian enthusiasm was created in preparation for the midnight Mass. Similar "manifestations" were held in a few other localities in Malta. Elderly members of MUSEUM relate interesting experiences of the first processions held in 1921 and 1922.
To meet the demand for more large figures of Baby Jesus, half a dozen were
imported from Lecce, Italy, by a Valletta agent. These were soon bought by
the larger centres of the 18 which MUSEUM had opened in Malta. They cost
about 2 M liras each, which was quite high, considering that the average
daily wage was 1s 8d (8 cents). Fr. Francis Micallef is believed to have
supplied Qormi and a couple other centres with statuettes he himself had
made or imported.
EARLY EXPERIENCES
Mr. Gerald Schembri of Zabbar, then aged nine, recalls that in the first
procession held there he had carried Baby Jesus in his arms. Gerald was
dressed as an altar boy. The village streets were almost in total
darkness, not yet surfaced, muddy and wioth many pot-holes. Boys brought
all sorts of lanterns, including those used by farmers and fishermen on
their crafts. A bicycle lamp, lit by acetylene gas, was held by Josehp
Chetcuti to keep Baby Jesus in the spotlight.
They carried coloured paper lanterns, lit with candles, which easily caught fire or were frequently blown out. All along the route, people placed their oil lamps behind windows to break the darkness.
When the procession reached Bajjada Street, it encountered a group of
drunken men. The superior, Joseph Lanzon used to relate that the children
were scared at first but as the drunks walked aside, the cortege proceeded
without incident.
DECORATIONS
Each member did his best to contribute towards a better presentation of
this now very popular event. Members who were good carpenters produced
beautiful yet simple mangers. They made plywood banners inscribed with
biblical quotations. Letters were perforated through the plywood, and
covered with coloured tissue paper so that these banners could be lit with
candles and the words raed out. Each centre had a bigger banner with the
words Verbum Dei Caro Factum est on it leading the procession.
In Qormi, Antonio Cassar, a tinsmith who belonged to MUSEUM, hammered out a beautiful halo, two flower bases complete with flowers and leaves to be mounted on the portable platform. Emanuel Borg painted two pictorial backgrounds in a stained glass style with aback-light.
By the mid-1930s mantel lamps replace acetylene tanks. Children were to sing carols in Maltese and Latin. Other members played instruments to accompany choirs. Portable organs and piano accordions were among the more popular. In some villages traditional dorga was also played. This was an earthenware pot, like a pitcher, having a spout with a slot, similar to a whistle. When filled with water and blown into, it produced a warbling note.
After the war, portable lighting appliances came into use, using batteries, and public address sytems were mounted all along the route. Illuminated banners with biblical quotations in Maltese replaced the older ones. Bottled gas lamps substituted oil lamps. In some villages a band made up of volunteer musicians joined the members of the MUSEUM in the procession. The female section of the society provided children representing biblical characters.
The procession used to stop in the village square, where children recited duets and poems with a Christmas theme. The very first duet was the popular one Alpinu u Battillu. The Biblical scholar Mgr Saydon provided the Zurrieq centre witha specially written duet called Il-Lejl tal-Milied (Christmas Night), while other poets wrote sonnets and poems for the occasion. Poems by Dun Karm, Prof. A. Cuschieri and Fr. Frans Camilleri still form part of the programme as does the young boys sermon. Today girls also present a Christmas feature at such stops.
As the Christmas Eve procession became more popular, families started decorating pottery statuettes of Baby Jesus in balconies and windows. Large and small crib-makers opened their creations to public viewing.
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Carmel Bonavia is a historian, journalist, philatelist, curator of
Zabbar Parish Museum, a retired Headteacher and a senior member of
M.U.S.E.U.M.
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(Source: VOICE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, Vol.2 - Issue # 18; Dec. 1997.
VOM: St. Francis Ravelin, Floriana, MALTA)