Few places can claim a 2,000-year Christian history. Jerusalem, Asia Minor, Rome ... and Malta.
When Acts of the Apostles recounts Paul's shipwreck on this island, it doesn't give a lot of details. It indicates that he passed the winter there, that the people showed "unusual kindness," and that he healed a man named Publius and many others.
But if the Apostle to the Gentiles spent three month in any place, we can well imagine that that place was never the same.
We can verify that even today in Malta.
This land fell in love with the Mother of the Savior thanks to the preaching of St. Paul and St. Luke, who accompanied him. Luke, of course, is the most Marian of the Evangelists. Imagine what it was for the Maltese to hear about Mary from him!
What we know is that the island has loved her ever since ... for 2,000 years!
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Find out about many of the Marian sites at Malta and the island's fascinating history here.
