By Barbara Bode

Nearly a thousand Maltese/Americans from across the United States and Canada crowded into the crypt church of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, on Sunday, May 28th, for the blessing of the Oratory of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu.

For Mgr. Benedict Camilleri of Gharb Gozo, rector emeritus of Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary, it as the goal he’d been working towards for more than six years. Bringing this powerfully moving mosaic of Ta’ Pinu to this small chapel in the National Shrine, he thanked everyone who’d helped him along the way.

“No matter where they are in the world”, Mgr Camilleri intoned, “Maltese thing of the word of Mary. She and Christianity saw us through the Great Seige of 1565 and the bombardment of World War ll. Not only did she protect us, she has led us to live good spiritual lives. Mary, You are the Glory of Malta, the reason why we are gathered here today, where so many immigrants have come to make a living. Just as Malta is a small island but precious jewel for the world, so is this small shrine a jewel to honour the glory of Mary, the Mother of our country”.

The Bishop of Gozo Mgr. Mario Grech, applying the lessons of the Gospel, pointed out that Christian people today should not be solely looking into the heavens but, rather, looking around for meaning in the world. We have a very similar problem to that of the early men of Galilee, if we’re looking too much up at the sky, we lose the vision of God back to the world, back to the market-place… but not the marketplace of modern ideas.

“Today, as in ages past, modern occurrences are recorded. Will future readers see that like the early disciples, we risk losing the vision of the beauty of God? Are we so intensely involved in daily activities that we are letting ourselves get carried away by worldly, material concerns? Will they see we have sacrificed the vertical dimension of human life for the horizontal?

Yesterday’s acts have a message for today,” Bishop Grech emphasized.

“It’s the message entrusted to Carmela Grima in 1883 at the Chapel of Ta’ Pinu, the message of Mary’s ascension into heaven that become dogma, thanks to Pope Pius Xlll. This story, this history, is not a legend. Throughout the years, Church authorities have continued to encourage parishioners to seek spiritual solace at Ta’ Pinu.

“You brothers and sisters of Malta have scattered this truth across these North American countries and the world, this dogma of faith, that something extraordinary has taken place… not just in 1883, but now, today,” the Bishop proclaimed.

Turning to address the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrack, Bishop Grech noted that here in the National Shrine the Cardinal has given this small room, this small chapel, to Ta’ Pinu, It will serve as a reminder that “we Maltese tell all we firmly believe Mary was taken up to heaven, followed her Sun, anticipating our faith that we will follow”.

He continued: “our faith gives a special tone to all our beliefs that we carry out and about and around the world. Like Mary, we need to be oriented toward heaven, open to God. Our faith provides a different tonality to our personal, family and social lives. We serve in the countries in which we live, wherever we live, because we are all servants of God. Today’s acts and ways of living are our holistic vision, we are not just staring up into the sky.”

Cardinal McCarrack also commented that Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu is also Our Lady of Vocations. He expressed the hope that her powerful effect will inspire young people to join the Church as novices and seminarians.

Mgr. Walter R. Rossi, rector of the National Shrine, pointed out that the Cardinal, is a strong supporter of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural shrines and oratories that represent the changing face of America. He thanked both Bishop Grech and the Bishop of Kansas City, who serves on the board of the National Shrine, for their participation and help in making this such a wonderful ceremony.

The Cardinal and the Bishops and officiating clergy all moved to the back of the church, to the small chapel of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu and, in blessing it, commemorated the ascension of the Lord (whose commemoration fell that day) and our Lady into heaven.

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