Golden Rose

For
Our Lady
Of Ta’ Pinu

© clementezammit@optusnet.com.au
On his recent visit to Malta (April 17-18, 2010) the Holy Father
presented Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu with a Golden Rose “as a sign of
our shared filial affection for the Mother of God”.
 The Golden Rose is a
papal decoration, which in
the past was conferred on
prominent Catholic
personalities.
The distinction was
created by Pope Leo IX in
1049.
After the Second Vatican
Council, the papal
decoration has become
almost exclusively a gift
from popes to Our Lady.
The Pope affirmed
the “particular
devotion of the
Maltese people to
the Mother of
God, expressed
with great fervour
to Our Lady of Ta’
Pinu”.

“I am pleased to have the opportunity to pray before

her image, brought here specially from Gozo for this
occasion” – Pope Benedict
 The Shrine of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu takes its name from a benefactor,
Pinu (Philip) Gauci, who in the early 17th century funded the rebuilding
of a very old chapel on the site of the current Sanctuary.
 The lonely chapel became a place of
pilgrimage after Karmela Grima,
passing by the chapel in 1883, heard a
woman’s voice calling her from within
the chapel, and then inviting her to
“recite three Hail Marys in honour of
the three days my body remained in
the tomb”.
 Shortly afterwards, Karmela
fell ill and was confined to
bed for many months. It was
not, therefore, before two
years later that she confided
her “secret” to a friend by the
name of Francesco Portelli.
He in turn told Karmela that
he himself heard a woman’s
voice asking him to recite
prayers in honour of the
Hidden Wound of Christ.
Francesco’s mother, who was very ill, was miraculously
healed with the intercession of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu.
Word spread and the chapel became a place of
pilgrimage for many people in Gozo and beyond.
Devotion to Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu grew so rapidly that the Bishop
of Gozo at the time, Pietru Pace, felt it necessary to make
detailed enquiries. His conclusion was that the messages to
Karmela and Francesco were really from the Blessed Virgin.
Soon, the place could not accommodate
the many pilgrims who regularly flocked
to the chapel. The decision was,
therefore, taken to build the current
shrine – a magnificent Basilica in
Romanesque style.
Located in the village of
Gharb, work on the
Basilica started in 1920,
with the new church
being blessed and
opened to the public in
1932.
Completion of the bell
tower occurred in 1934.
 Year 1935

•Church of Ta’ Pinu raised to the dignity of Minor Basilica by Pope Pius XI;
•The miraculous image of Our Lady was crowned by Cardinal Alessio
Lepicier upon a decree signed by Cardinal, eventually Pope, Eugenio Pacelli.
 May 26, 1990

Twenty years ago, Pope

John Paul II, on a visit
to Malta, went himself
on a pilgrimage to Ta’
Pinu Shrine.
He prayed in the
chapel, celebrated
Mass in the forecourt
of the Basilica, and
then placed a crown of
golden stars on the
image of Our Lady.
Pope John Paul II:
“So it is that this Marian
piety, among you too,
became an intrinsic
element of Christian
worship, especially in your
most famous Marian
Sanctuary of Ta’ Pinu
where, according to
tradition, the Virgin Mother
of God appeared a
hundred years ago to a
young girl, Karmela Grima.

(from a letter from the Pope, dated

26th August, 1983, to the Bishops
of Malta and Gozo)
 Queen of the
Family
April 18, 2010
Pope Benedict prayed
the Regina Coeli at
Granaries Square in
Floriana, Malta,
before the image of
Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu.

On the occasion, the Holy Father asked the faithful that she be
prayed to as the “Queen of the Family”, a title introduced by
Pope John Paul II to the Litany of Loreto.
 I am pleased to share this
presentation with you, and that
you share it with others, in the
hope that we rediscover a
tradition so dear to the Church,
and to us Maltese in particular, of
celebrating
MAY as the MONTH OF MARY,
where we recall the role of the
Virgin Mother in the beginning of
our salvation,

Clemente Zammit
Melbourne, Australia
May 2010
the end
Background Music_Andrea Bocelli_Ave Maria_Schubert