On Sunday 15th October, the Dominican youth community of Valletta once again celebrated its annual Marian pilgrimage. This event has its origins in 1883, when it was held for the first time with the assistance of Brother Angelo Portelli, OP, later Auxiliary Bishop of Malta.
This year, a group of about twenty people, accompanied by Brother Ian Zammit, OP, a recently ordained priest, left the Basilica of St Dominic and Our Lady of Porto Salvo in Valletta at 5.00 a.m. and made their way to the Church of St Dominic and the Blessed Virgin in Rabat. The main purpose of the pilgrimage is to pray the Holy Rosary, creating a recollected atmosphere of communion and prayer.
The pilgrims were welcomed in the parish church of Attard, where they rested for a few minutes and received water to help them on their way. Because the route was 14 kilometres long, older pilgrims joining the group were transported from Valletta to Rabat, where all arrived to celebrate the Eucharist.
Mrs. Annalise Grixti, who together with her husband, participated in the pilgrimage for the sixth year, shared: “It has become an annual event on our calendar. I was very happy to see that the number of pilgrims had increased considerably compared to previous years, thanks to social media and newspaper advertisements, which helped to open up the event not only to the parishioners of Valletta, but to the general public. The advertisements helped to further publicize the event to others by including a list of checkpoints at particular times along the route between Valletta and Rabat. This allowed people from other locations to join us, at places which were more convenient for them. I would like to thank the organisers for keeping this ancient Marian tradition alive and for creating a sense of community through this pilgrimage”.
