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The Siġġiewi Local Council presented Fr Martin Micallef, Director of Id-Dar tal-Providenza, with the Onorifiċenza Mertu Siġġiewi (Siġġiewi Award of Merit) for his work at the Home as well as within the community of Siġġiewi. This year, Fr Martin will be ten years at the helm of the Home. In October 2008, he was appointed Director by the then Archbishop, now Emeritus, Mgr Pawl Cremona OP after Mgr Lawrence Gatt became Chancellor of the Archdiocese.

Fr Martin Micallef, son of John Micallef and Jane nee Bugeja was born in Luqa on November 10th 1967. After attending the Luqa Primary School, the Minor Seminary and the New Lyceum he entered the Archbishop’s Major Seminary to follow his priestly vocation. He achieved his Bachelorship in Philosophy and Theology and was licensed in Pastoral Theology. He was ordained deacon on 25th November 1994 in the parish of Luqa and ordained priest on July 5th 1996. He served as vice-parish priest in the Ibraġġ parish and later as parish priest of Għaxaq (2000 – 2005) and Marsaskala (2005 – 2008). Since 2004, Fr Martin was a member of the National Commission Persons with Disability, now Commission for the rights of Persons with Disability, representing the Church in Malta. He is also member of the Pastoral Commission for Persons with Disability.

The presentation of the Siġġiewi Award of Merit was held last month at the Siġġiewi Primary School under the patronage of the ex-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Anton Tabone.

In her address, the Siġġiewi Mayor, Alessia Psaila Zammit, spoke on the work and plans of the Local Council including investment in more roads and infrastructure, cultural activities and ongoing focus on safeguarding the environment and on sustainable develoment in Siġġiewi.

On Saturday 3rd March 2018, 24sevenMedia launched the second volume in a series of books featuring Maltese and Gozitan personalities. This time it is the turn of popular Maltese singer Freddie Portelli and 24sevenMedia published two books about him. The first book focuses on the life of Freddie Portelli whilst the second book is a collection of 282 lyrics of his most well known songs. The book may be purchased from all main bookshops and with it go a free lyrics book as well as a CD featuring Freddie’s most popular songs.

Freddie and his wife Carmen have kindly decided to donate part of the revenues from the book sales to Id-Dar tal-Providenza.

On the 11th of February 1968, exactly fifty years ago today, Mary Hayman, Carmen Giudice and Carmen Farrugia were the three little girls that were welcomed as residents at Villa Mons Gonzi, the first of three such villas at the Home. For Mgr Mikiel Azzopardi, the founder of the Home, this was a memorable day. He himself had stated that that was a day he will never forget. At that time, Dun Mikiel said: “I still feel a great excitement when, together with the first group of Sisters (of Charity) and those collaborators whom I used to refer to as my wings, we were waiting at the main door of Villa Mons Gonzi expecting the arrival of the first angels. It was a heavenly joy that continued throughout the whole day that climaxed during the first Mass and when, through the windows of the balcony that gives on to the playground, we looked at the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes to say the prayer on her first apparition.”
Mary Hayman, one of three girls, was also one of the first group of persons with disability that started living in ‘Dar Żerniq’, the first community home that was opened in Siġġiewi. Mary, who was seven years old when she became a resident of Id-Dar tal-Providenza, said this: “When I entered Id-Dar tal-Providenza, I could neither talk nor walk. I had a physiotherapist and a speech therapist who used to come specifically for me at the Home. Dun Mikiel also bought a tricycle for me so that I could start exercising my legs. I don’t recollect exactly for how long I was neither walking nor talking, but I do remember that at thirteen years of age (six years after she became a resident of the Home) I used to attend the Guardian Angel school and a year later I used to go to the Siġġiewi Primary school. I do remember myself walking and talking at the school.”
Carmen Giudice died at Id-Dar tal-Providenza on March 29th 1969 whilst Mary Hayman died on the 21st of December 2006. Carmen Farrugia eventually went back to her family home.

On Friday, January 12th 2018, the Vicar General, Mgr Joe Galea Curmi, celebrated a Thanksgiving mass at Dar tal-Providenza on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of when the Sisters of Charity of St Jeanne Antide Thouret started their work at the Home. In his homily, Mgr Galea Curmi quoted Pope Francis who in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium states: “If I succeed in helping at least one person in getting a better life, this is already enough to justify my gift of life.” The Vicar General thanked the Sisters of Charity who, fifty years ago, accepted the invitation of Mgr Mikiel Azzopardi and recognised the service at Dar tal-Providenza as the best way to live out their vocation on the example of their Foundress, St Jeanne Antide Thouret. He also thanked the forty-two Sisters who gave their service during the past fifty years and said: “Every Sister is a story in its own right, an act of generosity, and for this we should show gratitude.”

Present for this occasion was the Provincial of the Sisters of Charity for Malta and Italy, Sr Mary Stephanos, who was representing the Superior General Sr Nunzia De Gori. In her speech for the occasion Sr Stephanos said, amongst other things, that she could just imagine what an overwhelming mission it seemed to the Sisters, but on the example of the Foundress, St Jeanne Antide, whose intrepid trust in the Lord has been passed on to them, accepted the mission armed with the only conviction that the God who has called them will walk with them day by day. “I am sure,” she said, “that the word of St Jeanne Antide ‘God is everywhere, the poor are everywhere. This is enough for us’ must have echoed in their hearts and strengthened the resolve to continue to serve God in the person of the needy with the same daring and compassionate spirit of St Vincent de Paule and St Jeanne Antide. We are also here to celebrate God’s faithfulness and goodness that He has shown to them and to all those who entered this sacred place where they witnessed only love and selfless dedication. It is only His boundless love that has given us the ability to give ourselves totally to others and to show them the dignity and respect that every child of God, created in His own image, deserves.”

Fr Martin Micallef, Director of Dar tal-Providenza, said that certainly the residents of the Home can relay to the Sisters of Charity the beautiful words that St Luke used in the Acts of the Apostles to describe the warm welcome given to them by the Maltese inhabitants when they were shipwrecked on our island. ‘We were kindly received by the people of Melita.’ (Acts 28:2). On behalf of the residents, Fr Martin thanked the Sisters for their total dedication towards the persons with disability residing at the Home enabling them to live in a place that respects their dignity and rights.

Historical Information

The Sisters of Charity, or better still the Sisters of St Jeanne Antide Thouret, came to Malta in 1868 and the government immediately entrusted them with the running of his orphanages which were then in Valletta. Later, the government also passed on to them three small schools in Bahrija, Imtahleb and Birzebbuga. The Sisters also started administering the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bugeja in Santa Genera as well as the Bishop’s Conservatorio in Rabat, Gozo. They then opened schools in Tarxien, St Julian’s and Gudja. But undoubtedly their biggest contribution was in the hospitals where they opened a school for nursing.

Sisters of Charity presented with the Dun Mikiel Azzopardi Award 2017

In 1965, when Dun Mikiel Azzopardi embarked on the construction in Siggiewi of the first home in Malta for persons with disability, he felt that he could not run this Home without the experience of a religious congregation. After his failed attempts to lure the Gwanelljani of Italy and the Franciscan Sisters of Malta, he contacted the Sisters of Charity who had by then established themselves with their charitable works in Malta.

In 1967, Dun Mikiel wrote to the Mother General in Rome, Sor Maria Candida Torchino, requesting her to give her blessing for the Maltese Province to extend a community of her Congregation to Id-Dar tal-Providenza. Mother General gave her approval to the Provincial of Malta, Sor Angela Maria Corbella.

At the beginning of 1968, the building of the first Home, Dun Mikiel named it Villa Monsinjur Gonzi in recognition of a substantial donation that the then Archbishop, Sir Michael Gonzi had made towards this project that was ready to welcome its first residents.

On the 12th of January 1968, a month before the first residents made Villa Monsinjur Gonzi their home, the Mother Provincial sent a small community of Sisters that started living in and preparing for their newwork at Id-Dar tal-Providenza. The first Mother Superior of this community was Sr Maria Assunta Mallia. Living with her were Sr Alessandra De Lazzaro and Sr Agostina Cutajar. For their convent, the Sisters were allocated a site that up to 1962 was used by English officers as a Rest Camp of the British Navy.

On Sunday 11th of February 1968, the feast of the first apparition of Our Lady to the Young Bernadette in the grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, Dun Mikiel and the
Sisters welcomed the first three residents in Villa Monsinjur Gonzi. On February 24th of the same year, an agreement was then signed with the Archbishop’s approval between the Catholic Action and the Congregation of Sisters of St Joan Antide Thouret authorising the Maltese Province to provide its services at the Home.

To the present day, this community continued giving its services to the residents of the Home with immense dedication and love. A total of forty-two Sisters cared for the residents during their fifty years of work at the Home. During this period, the Superiors of this community were Sr Maria Assunta Mallia, Sr Annunziata Cortis, Sr Cecilia Frendo, Sr Maria Ersilia Mifsud, Sr Madalena Fava, Sr Maria Antida Mifsud and Sr Lorenza Borg.

In 2003, the twin Fava sisters, Sr Madalena and Sr Fortunata that served at the Home between 1982 and 1994 were presented with the Dun Mikiel Azzopardi Award in recognition for their work at the Home. This Award has been given every year since 1995 in public recognition of those persons or entities that gave their contribution to persons with disability within and outside the Dar tal-Providenza.

As part of the annual Armed Forces of Malta concert held on December 1st, 2017, at St John’s Co-Cathedral in aid of Dar tal-Providenza, this Award was also given to the Congregation of Sisters of St Jeanne Antide Thouret in recognition of their fifty years of service at the Home.

On New Year’s day, Archbishop Mgr Charles J. Scicluna, in his homily given at Dar tal-Providenza’s chapel said: “Fifty years ago, the Sisters of Charity embarked on this adventure of love to live this charisma of being Sisters of Charity, the Sisters who propagate the love of Christ, the love of God in various situations as they are still doing today.”

Details were given on the 22nd edition of the Feast of Generosity that takes place every New Year’s Day. It is organised by Id-Dar tal-Providenza, together with RTK Radio, primarily to raise funds so that it can continue to provide and improve on the services it offers.
Fr Martin Micallef, Director of Id-Dar tal-Providenza, explained the four main reasons behind the Feast of Generosity: to meet up with the residents, to see the capital projects, to raise the much needed funds but more importantly to spread the Home’s message that society has to respect persons with disability, treat them with the dignity they deserve and offer them choices and opportunities that everyone has a right to enjoy.

Mr Anton Attard, speaking on behalf of RTK, said that the marathon had raised over €10 million over the 22year span of its existance. He thanked Tonio Bonello an Sonia Young who had, in the past been instrumental in the creation and fostering of this annual milestone. “The public’s willingness to respond to RTK’s campaigns for Dar tal-Providenza grew like the biblical mustard seed’ said Mr Attard.

The Feast of Generosity kicks off at 9.00am with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Mgr Charles J. Scicluna in the Home’s chapel. Focus will then be on the main stage under the big tent where there will be a spectacle of entertainment and interviews with various personalities who visit the Home during the day.
This year an auction of works of art kindly donated by over one hundred Maltese and foreign artists will again be held as part of the Feast of Generosity. The public will be able to view beforehand these works of art at an exhibition set up in the foyer of Parliament building in Valletta between the 15th and 26th December. Viewing will be between 9.00am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday whilst on the weekend doors are open between 9.00am and 1.00pm.
The exhibition will be officially opened by the Speaker of the House, the Hon Dr Anġlu Farrugia on Friday 15 December 2017 at 5.00pm
On New Year’s Day they will then be displayed at Id-Dar tal-Providenza. All those wishing to bid for the works of art may do so online on www.dtpauction.com between the 15 December 2017 and 1st January 2018. On New Year’s Day there will also be the possibility for bidding by phone on a number that will be shown on the TV screens during the broadcast on the main local TV stations. One may also visit the hall at Id-Dar tal-Providenza in Siġġiewi where the works may also be viewed. The catalogue with all the works of art may be viewed on www.dtpauction.com as from the 15 December.
For the benefit of those who will not be able to visit id-Dar tal-Providenza, the whole telethon, which ends around midnight, will be relayed ‘live’ on the main television stations. Donations may be made at the Home in Siġġiewi, at Radio RTK studios in Blata l-Bajda or by phone as follows:
€10 Donation – 516 02 012
€15 Donation – 517 02 013
€25 Donation – 518 02 014