To mark the the 175th anniversary at St George’s Basilica, Victoria, of the titular statue of St George, carved in wood by Pietro Paola Azzopardi in 1839, the holy relic of the arm of St George, venerated at the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore on the homonymous island in Venice since 1296, will be brought to Gozo for the special festivities.
The request was made by H.L. Mgr Mario Grech, Bishop of Gozo and Dean of the Collegiate Chapter, to Dom Norberto Villa osb, Abbot of Praglia and San Giorgio Maggiore.
Venice’s renowned Arm of St George is considered to be one of the authentic relics of the saint. In 1978 an anthropological and anatomical study was carried out on the said relic, as well as on the cranium of the saint kept in Rome’s San Giorgio al Velabro, on the relic of Ferrara and on other remains venerated at St George’s Basilica in Como.
St George’s Parish said that “the study confirmed that all these relics must have belonged to the same male subject, aged in his twenties that lived around the beginning of the fourth century.”
The Velabro relic was brought twice to Gozo, first in 1984 and then in 2003, when on both occasions St George’s Basilica celebrated centenaries related to the Patron Saint’s life.
The holy relic of the arm of St George will visit the Maltese Islands between the 14th and 20th of July 2014, accompanied by four Benedictine monks from the Abbey. After a stay in St George’s Parish Church Qormi, where they will be welcomed on Monday the 14th of July, the holy relic will arrive in Gozo on Tuesday, the 15th of July, where the first stop will be the Xewkija Rotunda, the village one hundred and seventy five years ago that welcomed the new statue of St George on the way to Victoria.
At 7.00pm, the Bishop of Gozo Mgr. Mario Grech, along with the Chapter and clergy, will welcome the arrival of the holy relic at the crossroads in Republic Street, Victoria, and will then go in procession to St George’s Basilica, accompanied by the La Stella Band.
There will be a welcoming address by Archpriest Mgr. Paul Cardona. At 8.00pm, in the Basilica of St George there will be a Solemn Ecumenical Vigil chaired by the Bishop of Gozo, together with Em.T. Gennadios Zervós, Orthodox Metropolitan Archbishop of Italy and Malta, and Can. Simon Godfrey, Chancellor of the Anglican Communion in Malta and Gozo. The relic will remain on display in the Basilica for the veneration of the faithful until midnight.
The relic of the Arm of St. George will be taken on visits to the Gozo General Hospital, religious convents, and homes for the sick and elderly. It will also be on display for the veneration of the faithful in the church of St. Francis, the church of the Good Shepherd and St. Augustine’s Church, in Victoria, during morning Mass on the 16th, 17th and 18th of July respectively.
On Friday, the 18th of July, in the morning, parish priests are available to accompany the relic in private to the homes of the sick and elderly, and therefore, those who may wish to request a visit should contact the Parish Office (2155 6377).
At other times, especially during the Solemn Triduum in the Basilica, the relic will be solemnly displayed in front of the statue of St George. The relic will be carried in the Pontifical Procession of St. George, on the Feast day, Sunday, the 20th of July, at 7.00pm, to be led by HE Mons. Salvatore di Cristina, Archbishop Emeritus of Monreale, and accompanied by the collegiate chapter and clergy. The La Stella Band will play religious hymns during the procession.