The tiny church with a great story

In the hamlet of Magħtab on the outskirts of Naxxar, on the island of Malta, there is a little church dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to an old history book, published in 1647, Della Descrittione di Malta by Commander Gian Frangisk Abela, the term Magħtab reflects the rough and unwalkable ground of the area. Abela also says that this locality had many gardens, rich in olive trees and vineyards.

Although today this hamlet has modern buildings, Magħtab still resembles a typical Maltese medieval village. The old Maltese village consisted of a few farms and a small church. The forefathers of many of today’s inhabitants are farmers from times of old. 

Located on a hill, Naxxar is an ancient settlement going back to prehistoric times, as evidenced by the discovery of Punic tombs, catacombs, and cart ruts in numerous sites. The town’s name may have originated from "Nasra," derived from the word Nazarenes. In fact, in the Maltese language Nsara means Christians.

Although the dedication of the Parish Church is the Nativity of Our Lady, the strongest tradition in the village relates to the shipwreck of St. Paul, the inhabitants having been presumably among the first to accept the Good News, after the Apostle preached there in AD 60. Another indication of the Naxxar’s antiquity is the early founding of the parish, possibly in the 13th century, which would make it one of the oldest parishes in Malta. 

Naxxar parish was indeed the first to be established in the countryside, and the first parish to be dedicated to Our Lady. Naxxar is also one of four parishes to celebrate the feast day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, on September 8. On that day we also celebrate the victory over the Ottomans in 1565, believed to have happened through Our Lady’s intercession.  For this reason the fesat is more known as "Il-Vitorja," the victory celebration. 

The presence of man in Magħtab goes back to 2500 B.C., and three "Dolmens" (large roofed stones) in an area called Hammut are witnesses to this. These are of great archaeological and historical importance since they are among 13 located in the Maltese archipelago.

In 1955, Professor John D. Evans carried out excavations and found pottery from the Tarxien Cemeteries Period (2500-1500 B.C.) under one of them. During these times the dead were not buried but burnt, and their ashes were collected and preserved in earthen jars

An interesting site in Magħtab is the cave church of San Brinkat. This cave is a testimony of fears our ancestors had. It is said that in the old days, locals saw evil spirits in this area. Some fishermen found a painting on canvas floating in the sea and hanged it in this cave as protection against these spirits. Over time this was replaced by a similar image made of stone. The image depicts the crucified Christ, St. Peter and St. Pancrasius. Our ancestors pronounced Pancrazio as Brancato, so the site’s name bacame the Cave of St. Brinkat (Għar San Brinkat).

St. Pancrasius was born in Antioch in Greece. When he was still young his father heard about the teachings and miracles of Jesus, so he took him to Palestine. He later became a Christian and was baptized by St. Peter himself, and became a priest and bishop of Taormina in Sicily. He was martyred in A.D. 98, when he was 90 years old.  

Another cave in this locality is known as St. Peter’s cave (Għar San Pietru). In the past it was a church, so much so that in 1575, in his apostolic visit report, Mgr. Pietru Dusina mentioned this cave-church. Celebrations on the feast day of St. Peter were also held in this troglodytic church.

After some time another church dedicated to the Apostle Peter was built in another area called the Hill of God and His Mother (It-Telgħa t’Alla u Ommu). Today, a pile of stones is the only memory we have of this church. On the other side of Magħtab one finds the Church of St. John the Evangelist.

The history of this church is proof of the dangers our forefathers faced. A farmer whose name was Ġwanni (John) Portelli was in his fields when corsairs landed in a closeby area called Baħar ic-Ċagħaq (“Sea of Pebbles” in Maltese). Frightened, he climbed a tree and hid the best he could, since had he been caught he would have certainly been enslaved and sold in a foreign land. He prayed to his patron saint, St. John, making a vow that if he was spared he would build a church dedicated to him on that spot. Indeed he was unharmed and the vow was fulfilled.  

The Assumption of Mary into heaven, body and soul, was declared a dogma of the Catholic faith by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950. However, the tradition of honoring this event goes back much further, as the feast has been celebrated on August 15 since ancient times in both Eastern and Western Christianity. 

Revelation 12 of the New Testament speaks of a woman pursued by a dragon who is given wings to escape into the desert, a vision that many associate with Mary’s Assumption. Early apocryphal texts, such as the Transitus Mariae (the “Passing of Mary”) provide some of the earliest accounts of Mary’s death and assumption. While not part of the canonical scriptures, these writings offer an exceptional window into the early Christian belief and tradition surrounding this event.

The oldest of these texts, thought to have been written in the 2nd century, possibly by a disciple of John the Evangelist, suggests that the tradition of Mary’s Assumption was well established in the early Church. Archaeological evidence and linguistic analysis of these texts further support their early origin and indicate a deep and ancient reverence for this event among the early Christians. 

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary holds a special place in the hearts of the Maltese people, where Mary is known as Santa Marija Assunta. This feast has been deeply rooted in Maltese religious tradition for centuries, and churches and chapels dedicated to the Assumption can be found throughout the islands. Devotion to the Assumption in Malta can be traced back to the early Christian era. The Assumption is the title by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Patroness of the Maltese Islands.  

This church is centuries old and is mentioned in many contracts dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries, for instance in a 1542 contract related to a field in Magħtab known as Ħnejjel il-knisja tal-Magħtab. The first direct reference to the church itself is a 1545 document. The church is also mentioned in the 1575 pastoral visit report of the pope’s delegate, Mgr. Dusina. Here he specifies that it was already dedicated to the Assumption, and that it had no income at all, nor was there any priest taking care of it; however, he refers to the great devotion the locals had toward this church. Indeed, in his Descrittione Storica Delle Chiese di Malta, the historian Achille Ferres says that in ancient times it was one of the Marian sanctuaries enjoying most devotion, and indeed it was a pilgrimage church.

The church’s façade is very plain and has no particular decoration. On the side of the church there are some waterspouts. The titular painting, by Filippino Dingli, illustrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, surrounded by angels, welcomed by God the Father. On each side of the altarpiece, there are another two paintings, one depicts St. Paul, after the shipwreck, and the other painting shows the Madonna together with two saints, her spouse St. Joseph and St. Teresa of Avila.  

There is a  very intriguing story told by the elders, revolving around the rebuilding of this church. It says that it was built a short distance away from the original where a runaway horse had stopped. This horse had taken off with a cart on which there was a farmer’s infant son. The child’s father made a vow that should the child be found safe and sound, he would build a church. The most interesting fact is that in the sacristy of this church there is a votive painting (ex voto) that illustrates this happening. 

Another ex voto painting shows a priest in bed, with the Sacrament on a table and an image of Our Lady in the corner. The priest appears with open arms, as if he is thanking the Blessed Virgin Mary for healing him. 

Reports relating to other pastoral visits shed more light on church’s history and devotion. For instance, in 1636 Bishop Belaguer says that above its altar there was a triptych painting, depicting the Madonna, St. Paul and St. Peter. In another visit, this time in 1653, Belaguer reports that thanks to donations of the devotees, the church had been rebuilt four years earlier, a short distance away from the site of the old one. In a later pastoral visit by Bishop Buenos, his scribe erroneously interpreted the painting of the Assumption as dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, a mistake that was repeated in the following visit by Bishop Astiria. 

Many reports by parish priests, chaplains, procurators, bishops and pastoral visitors throughout the 17th and 18th centuries show that prayer and devotion in this church were fervent and that the church itself was always very well kept.

In 1733, the procurator Giovanni Fava donated a painting of the Risen Christ. It is still in the same place today, accompanied with an inscription saying Dono Di Gio Maria Fava Nel 1733 (Donation by Gio Maria Fava in 1733). From Belaguer’s reports we also know that on Saturdays there used to be Mass and Vespers and the lamp was lit on feast days. There also used to be Masses on February 2nd on the Feast of Purification; the Annunciation; the Visitation; the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception. Also, in 1771, Bishop Pellerano writes that on the altar scannel there was a marble statue of the Madonna and a painting of the Madonna with St. Teresa of Avila on one side of the altar, and one of St. Paul on the other. He also mentioned the painting of the Risen Christ. 

Another idea of Gio Maria was the "Mondello di nucelli." In 1753 he had donated a field in an area known as Tal-Għaqba, also known as Żargiuna's. This land was given with a rent of 7 scudi per year, binding the procurators to celebrate the feast every year. The lamp had to be lit every Saturday and Sunday, and three Masses had to be celebrated - on Easter Sunday, on the feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, and on Pentecost; and for a hundred years another Mass was to be celebrated on St. Bartholomew's day. 

Un mondello e mezzodi nocille was to be distributed to the people on the eve of the feast. Two tari were to be paid to the curator of the church, and what remained was donated to the church itself. In 1755, Don Carolo Schembri became the procurator of the church, that is after Gio Maria Fava. The accounts kept by Don Carolo and those after him present substantial details about this church. Before the village festa, the building was whitewashed every year. On the feast day the Primi Vespri was sung, and Holy Mass with panygeric was celebrated. For all those who took part there was payment: the singers, the celebrant and the priest who preached the panygeric, generally the village parish priest. 

In these years the church had an income deriving from fixed assets. Apart from the field in Tal-Għaqba, mentioned earlier, it also had two gardens, one called iż-żgħir (the small one), a fig tree garden located in front of the church; and il-kbir (the large one), another fig tree garden close by to the church. Through the work of the procurators the church had consistent income, which was also used for conservation and  renovation works. For example, in November 1759 six scudi were paid for two new bells; in 1762, nine scudi and eight taris were paid to gild the chalice and the paten; and in the following year the missal was repaired at a cost of one scudo and three tari. On July 25, 1781, Bishop Labini issued a decree stipulating that filial churches should support their parishes. Since its coffers were quite full, the little church of the Assumption was surely in a position to offer such support. In fact, according to the books of the procurator Carlo Grech (1772-1778) the church of Our Lady of Magħtab was quite rich. The church was going through a good financial period. Was the fervent devotion of the locals throughout the centuries being rewarded?

Today, this church is in a very good condition and Holy Mass is still celebrated every Saturday and on Feast Days. 

References and acknowledgments

I would like to wholeheartedly convey my thanks to Paul Catania, an expert on Naxxar, for reviewing the article.

A medieval legacy. Hill Museum & Manuscript Library - Malta Parish Archives 

Bezzina J. Il-Magħtab. Għaqda tan-Nar San Bartilmew [from University of Malta website]

Catania P. and Busuttil R. Il-knisja tal-Assunta tal-Magħtab - Magħtab, limiti tan-Naxxar[The church of the Assumption of Magħtab – Magħtab limits of Naxxar]. Kappelli Maltin

Catania P. In-Naxxar - Stejjer, Ġrajjiet u Laqmijiet [Naxxar – Stories, Happenings and Epithets] Book Distributors Limited. Malta 2019

Catania P. Naxxar – Four Walks to Discover a Village. Naxxar Local Council and Din l-Art Ħelwa 

Fenech L. August – Church of St Mary in Magħtab. Radju Marija

Munificentissimus Deus – Defining the Dogma of the Assumption. Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII. November 1, 1950. 

Tomb of Mary.See the Holy Land. 

Vassallo A. The Church of the Nativity of Mary in Naxxar elevated to Collegiate. TVM News 8th of September 2019 

What Catholics Believe About the Assumption of Mary. Behold the Truth – Discovering the What and the Why of the Catholic Faith.