The Maltese fear of pirates wholly vanished in the 19th Century and several people, especially from the Cottonera area, began building small summer residences close to the sea. Some priests from Senglea, as Fr. Carmelo Mousu’ Borg and Fr. Joseph Portelli, who used to frequent Marsaskala during the summer, desired to have a church amid the new buildings to serve for the spiritual care of the holiday makers, as well as of the local fishermen and farmers. So a church was built. According to a notarial deed, dated April 19, 1895, in the presence of notary Joseph Rossi, on a plot of land known as “Bir il-Mielaħ” (the salty well), at Marsaskala, limits of Żabbar, a small church dedicated to St. Anne started being built. The Rev. Chapter of Senglea, which paid the expenses for the construction and furnishing of this church, rightly decided to dedicate it to St. Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary, Patroness of Senglea. Moreover, the street where the church was built was called La Sengle’ Street, after Grand Master Jean Claude de La Sengle’, who was the founder of Senglea.
Works In The Church
By the passing of years much work was carried out in this church, till it stopped being used as a parish church. Thus it was Can. Ignatius Panzavecchia who, together with others, paid all the expenses for the main marble altar. The representative of the Senglean Chapter was Can. Carmelo Mousu’ Borg. As the building of the church was extended throughout all the time Briffa was Arch priest of Senglea, the Chapter struggled to find benefactors to help in the expenses.
The Painting Of St Anne
The painting of St. Anne, once the principal picture in this church and now hanging in the main vestry of the present parish church, is attributed to Philip Venuti, a Sicilian painter whose works are found in many Maltese churches, but especially in Mqabba. Venuti worked in Malta towards the turn of the 20th Century. In St. Anne’s church there were also two small side-altars, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to Our Lady of Sorrows. The painting on this last altar is today preserved in the second vestry of the present parish church. It is a small, but finely-executed painting by John Vella, who had studied the art of painting under Attilio Palombi and whose works of art are located in many Maltese churches. Besides, in the exhibition organised by the British Institute in 1946, VeIIa displayed a painting of Marsaskala, executed in black and white. Craftsmen Francis Faure’ made stone stands and other objects in wood for St. Anne’s Church, besides painting pictures of St. Andrew, St. Francis Xavier and St. Paul the Hermit.
The Organ Balcony
On the inside, the church was also fitted with an organ balcony, which could be reached only by means of a wooden ladder, while at the back of the main altar there were two small vestries, one on top of the other, with a door in the lower one leading to the parish priest’s residence. The upper vestry, which contained the big chest of drawers now found in the main sacristy of the present parish church, also had two small windows overlooking the main altar and used by the choristers. On feastday the whole church was draped with tapestry. On the facade of the church there was a coat-of-arms displaying Mary’s emblem in the upper half and Senglea’s insignia in the lower half. There were also two small steeples, which were dismantled on becoming risky to passers-by after years of neglect, while the main door of the church was widened when the statue of St. Anne was imported from Italy.
As the number of permanent residents was continually on the increase, Mfr. Mauro Caruana, Bishop of Malta erected this small church as vice-parish of Żabbar on December 7, 1918, with its limits taken from Żabbar itself and from Żejtun.
Literature: www.religioustours.org.mtThe Maltese fear of pirates wholly vanished in the 19th Century and several people, especially from the Cottonera area, began building small summer residences close to the sea. Some priests from Senglea, as Fr. Carmelo Mousu’ Borg and Fr. Joseph Portelli, who used to frequent Marsaskala during the summer, desired to have a church amid the new buildings to serve for the spiritual care of the holiday makers, as well as of the local fishermen and farmers. So a church was built. According to a notarial deed, dated April 19, 1895, in the presence of notary Joseph Rossi, on a plot of land known as “Bir il-Mielaħ” (the salty well), at Marsaskala, limits of Żabbar, a small church dedicated to St. Anne started being built. The Rev. Chapter of Senglea, which paid the expenses for the construction and furnishing of this church, rightly decided to dedicate it to St. Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary, Patroness of Senglea. Moreover, the street where the church was built was called La Sengle’ Street, after Grand Master Jean Claude de La Sengle’, who was the founder of Senglea.
At first this church remained the property of the Senglean Clergy, who also continued to organize annually a small feast in honour of St. Anne. It seems that the building of this church took quite long to be completed, for the church was not blessed before November 22, 1903, by Can. Francis Briffa, Arch priest of Senglea, assisted by canons of the Senglean Chapter, as delegate of Bishop Peter Pace. On May 18, 1993, when Fr. Willie Vella was parish priest of Marsaskala, the Senglean Chapter not only donated this church to Marsaskala, but also remitted the small debt on it.