Our Lady of the Victory of Valletta (Malta)

Marian devotion

Where is he?

The church of Our Lady of Victory is located in Valletta, Malta, next to the square Jean Parisot de Valette. OpenStreetMap identifies the cult building and allows to offer a verified_building. The point corresponds to the present temple; it does not intend to locate each position of the troops during the Great Site of Malta.

Documented history

In 1565 Malta suffered the Great Site by the Ottoman forces. The defense of the island ended with the Ottoman withdrawal on 8 September, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Jean Parisot de Valette, a great master of the Order of St. John, wanted to raise a church as a thanksgiving for the victory. The first stone was placed on March 28, 1566, when the new city of Valletta began.

The property documentation of Din l-Art-and-Elwa describes Our Lady of Victory as the first building of the new capital. The temple was associated with the urban foundation of Valletta and the memory of the defense of Malta. Marian dedication retains a religious reading of victory, but the history of the building also belongs to architecture, urbanism and the political memory of the Order of St. John.

The temple was used as a conventual church until 1577. His works, transformations and restorations show that a place of thanksgiving can go through different stages without each detail of his decoration becoming a supernatural account. The heritage source used here allows us to talk about the building and its historical function; it does not provide a record of Mary's apparition during the site.

Tradition

The Maltese tradition related the withdrawal of the Ottoman army to the intercession of Mary because it coincided with the celebration of her Nativity. For the faithful, the church expresses gratitude for a liberation that was lived as the help of God received through the intercession of the Virgin. This interpretation belongs to devotion and does not replace the documented description of military operations.

Legend or uncertainty

There is no specific Marian apparition during the Great Site or a decree declaring military victory supernatural. Nor should this church of Valletta be confused with other Maltese temples of Our Lady of Victory. The tab refers to the building of Valletta and retains its own identity, although it shares title with the church of Senglea.

Ecclesial State

Veneration allowed: is a historic Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The classification describes the cult and the building; it does not claim an approved apparition or miracle. The heritage source documents the commemorative construction and the importance of the temple within Valletta.

Anecdotes and stories

The choice of a Marian church as the first building in Valletta had the thanksgiving incorporated into the city plan. Each visit brings together two memories: that of the defenders of Malta and that of a community that wanted to entrust its future to God. The building also recalls that the claims linked to "victories" can be born from a historic celebration without an apparition.

Prayer

Holy Mary, Mother of God, intercedes before Jesus Christ for Malta and for all the peoples who have suffered wars and siege. Teach us to thank the goods received, to protect the weak and to seek reconciliation. Amen.

Sources

• Din l-Art-Śelwa, heritage sheet of the church of Our Lady of Victory.
• Din l-Art-Śelwa, restoration and heritage of the church.
• OpenStreetMap Nominatim, Knisja tal-Vittorja.

Documented history of the church

The property documentation of Din l-Art-elwa links the church to the birth of Valletta. On March 28, 1566, a mass was held in the place where the first stone of the new city is traditionally placed. The source distinguishes tradition from the exact point of the ceremony from documentary evidence that there was a Eucharistic celebration there. The first building of the city was dedicated to Our Lady of Victory as a thanksgiving for the Maltese victory and the Order of St. John over the Ottoman army on September 7, 1565.

The great master Jean de Valette personally financed the construction and wanted to be buried in the church. He was buried there in 1568, but his remains were transferred in 1579 to the conventual church of San Juan, along with those of the great Master Pietro del Monte. The Order continued to use the temple until its departure from the island in 1798. After the death of chaplain Michael Gatt in 1836, the church was ruled by rectors chosen with the intervention of the bishop and the civil government; since 1837 it also served as a garrison church for Catholic units of the British army.

La denominación popular «Nuestra Señora de la Victoria» o «de las Victorias» recibió una nueva resonancia después de la capitulación de la flota italiana ante los Aliados en 1943, también un 8 de septiembre. La pastoral corresponde a la Curia de Malta, mientras que la gestión y el programa de restauración fueron confiados desde 2011 a Din l-Art Ħelwa por el Gobierno maltés. La iglesia se encuentra detrás de St James’ Cavalier, cerca de St Catherine of Italy y del Auberge de Castille, en una posición elevada de la península de Sceberras.

Art, memory and state

The heritage source describes a building linked to the city's layout and the architecture of the knights of San Juan. Its material history includes the liturgical use of the Order, the stage of garrison church and contemporary heritage conservation. None of this is in itself a statement of apparition or miracle: the state of this fact sheet is permitted veneration, understood as Catholic veneration of the advocation and pastoral use of the temple.

The link with the victory of 1565 must be read as historical memory and thanksgiving. The intercession that the faithful ask of Mary is addressed to God and does not turn military victory into a test of supernatural. The history of the building, its pastoral care and its restoration are different data from the devotional interpretation that accompanies the title.

Source of enlargement

• Din l-Art Ħelwa, Our Lady of Victory Church, Valletta.
• Din l-Art-elwa, church heritage documentation.