Mount St Joseph

Well, we arrived safely at Mount St. Joseph retreat center in Mosta without incident. On our 1st day here, we visited the temple at Tarxien, and the Hypogeum (google Hypogeum in Malta) an underground neolithic burial temple carved out of the living rock below ground. It's a marvelous feat of engineering and will power of these people who suddenly disappeared from the Maltese Islands without a trace and without any clear explanation of what happened to them. The site is limited to 70 visitors per day (max 10 per hour) to protect the walls and ochre painted motifs from excessive carbon monoxide. To get in, it is recommended to book tickets a few weeks in advance. I was so useed to the daily routine of morning mass at Manresa House, that I asked the director of Mount Saint Joseph when the daily community mass was celebrated. It turns out that there isn't one, but Father Reno Grech came to our aid and agreed to celebrate mass for us at 07:00. It's a bit odd that only Michele and I are there, but this makes it a much more personal experience, and his homilies are very beautiful in simplicity and elegance. His homilies remind me a little of the daily chats I had with Father Victor at Manresa House, although in Fr. Reno's case I am resisting the urge to interrupt him with incessant questions as was my tendency with Father Victor. On Wednesday, we took the bus to Valletta where we visited the Knights' Armoury in the morning, and then we visited Sister Paule and Sister Rose at St. Paul's Home in Hamrun that afternoon. They took us for a full tour of their magnificent facilities for the elderly, then we attended mass with them at 17:00 followed by a short tea afterwards which Sister Paule had prepared for us in advance. It was such a pleasure to see them again, and they seemed very happy to have visitors. The mass was concelebrated by 4 priests, 3 of whom were able to stand. They were all quite old and somewhat feeble as were most of the congregation, but it was a very nice service. Sister Paule, God bless her, admits to feeling a little tired. I think she's entitled to feel a little tired at the age of 75 and after having survived 3 or 4 open heart operations. Will make a point to write to her when we return to try to cheer her up. She doesn't know how to operate a computer to access e-mail, so it will have to be the old fashioned postal way when corresponding with her although sister Rose is a real crackerjack on the keyboard and would be able to pass on a message in a pinch, I suppose....On Thursday (yesterday), we visited the Mosta Domo, the co-Cathedral of Saint John in Valletta, the museaum of archaeology, the movie "Malta Experience" and the Lower and Upper Barraca Gardens, Today, we visited Mdina where we took the pre-recorded audio-walking tour of the city and then saw the first cathedral of Saint John and the museum where I noted several items on loan from the Jesuits of Malta. We saw the movie "Mdina Experience" and the torture chambers. After lunch we walked over to Rabat where we visited the Roman domus, the Church of Saint Paul, and most impressive of all, the grotto of Saint Paul where, according to legend, he stayed for 3 months after his ship wrecked on the shores of Malta on his journey to Rome. Unfortunately, we arrived at the Saint Paul catacombs at 16:32, and they closed at 16:30. Despite our reasonable effort to convince the lady in charge that we would be quick about it, she refused us entrance. No big deal, but I said a prayer for her. Likewise, the crypt of St. Agatha was closed at 16:30, so we may return to those tomorrow morning before heading over to St Paul's Bay. There's simply so much to see of the incredibly rich history of Malta that we have to realize we cannot possibly see it all in a mere few days. I've got a tonne of pictures, but am afraid to upload too many. Will set up a separate album in Picasa for these photos so that you can see more than what I have posted on this blog. Will provide the link when the new album is ready.
Tomorrow's our last day in Malta before we head north to Sicily.
cheers to all