Ta' Pinu, Gharb
Malta and Gozo have a lot of churches, one for every day of the year it is said. This is Ta Pinu Basilica, described as the most beautiful church in the islands. It is situated in Għarb , a village located at the westernmost point of the island of Gozo, The Maltese are very religious, at least the older ones are. There was a chapel here long before this church that was started in 1920.
On 22 June 1883, a Gozitan peasant and worker in a field, Karmni Grima, apparently heard a female voice coming from the Chapel that originally stood on this site as she was walking past.. The voice was calling her in Maltese, and telling her "Ejja...ejja!" ("Come...come!") When she entered the chapel, the same voice told her to "recite three Hail Mary’s in honour of the three days that my body rested in the tomb." Grima kept this event a secret for two years, but eventually told a friend, Francesco Portelli. His response was to say that he too had heard a woman's voice at about the same time as Grima had. The voice had told him to honour the "Wound of Christ", which Christ had received while carrying the cross. Shortly after this conversation, Grima's mother was miraculously healed after invoking the "Madonna ta' Pinu".
From 1887 onwards, many pilgrimages were organized to this chapel, and the need for a new, much larger church arose. On 30 May 1920, the foundation stone of the new church was laid. The church was finally consecrated on 13 December 1931, and from that day onwards, the church has become a place of pilgrimage. On 26 May 1990 Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at the Basilica during his pastoral visit to Malta.
Ta' Pinu, Gharb
Malta and Gozo have a lot of churches, one for every day of the year it is said. This is Ta Pinu Basilica, described as the most beautiful church in the islands. It is situated in Għarb , a village located at the westernmost point of the island of Gozo, The Maltese are very religious, at least the older ones are. There was a chapel here long before this church that was started in 1920.
On 22 June 1883, a Gozitan peasant and worker in a field, Karmni Grima, apparently heard a female voice coming from the Chapel that originally stood on this site as she was walking past.. The voice was calling her in Maltese, and telling her "Ejja...ejja!" ("Come...come!") When she entered the chapel, the same voice told her to "recite three Hail Mary’s in honour of the three days that my body rested in the tomb." Grima kept this event a secret for two years, but eventually told a friend, Francesco Portelli. His response was to say that he too had heard a woman's voice at about the same time as Grima had. The voice had told him to honour the "Wound of Christ", which Christ had received while carrying the cross. Shortly after this conversation, Grima's mother was miraculously healed after invoking the "Madonna ta' Pinu".
From 1887 onwards, many pilgrimages were organized to this chapel, and the need for a new, much larger church arose. On 30 May 1920, the foundation stone of the new church was laid. The church was finally consecrated on 13 December 1931, and from that day onwards, the church has become a place of pilgrimage. On 26 May 1990 Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at the Basilica during his pastoral visit to Malta.