Shot taken last Saturday when we went to watch the fireworks of one of the Sliema parish festas
The Titular statue of Our Lady Stella Maris (meaning Star of the sea) was brought to Sliema from Paris in 1891, thirteen years after the church was built. On Sunday evening of the festa a solemn procession with the statue of the Holy Virgin is, once every year in August, carried by 8 men in a circular route around the parish.
The church itself is the ‘matrice’ (mother) of all the other parish churches in Sliema and Gzira, being the oldest parish church dating from 1878. The church suffered severe damages during World War II on 2 March 1942 during a German air raid. Besides structural damages various works of art had been lost. Through the efforts of the parishioners repairs started immediately, and by December of that same year, the church was partially opened again.
As for the name of the town, Sliema is the Maltese word for peace and it connects with the first words of the Hail Mary prayer which in Maltese is “Sliem Għalik Marija”
Thank you very much for all your views, comments and fav's on yesterday's picture.
Tomorrow I will start with my pictures of our Sicily break with my children and their famiies. The fireworks will come later.
This is a gorgeous photo
Ian