Feast of Paul, patron saint of Malta, to be celebrated on 24 February

The annual feast of Malta’s patron saint St Paul will be celebrated on 24 February.

The annual feast is marked on the Catholic Church’s calendar but varies in date from year to year.

Paul of Tarsus, present-day Mersin in Turkey, was a Christian convert and Roman citizen who was arrested for his proselytizing. As written in the Bible, he was shipwrecked on Malta while on his way to Rome, to appeal before Caesar for his crimes. His shipwreck in 60 A.D. is marked in Malta on the 10th February.

To mark the liturgical feast, a mass will be led by Archpriest Rev. Canon David Cilia at 10:30am on 10th Feburary, with a sermon delivered by Fr Christopher Caruana OP, and a performance of Maestro Paolo Nani’s antiphon ‘Sancte Paule’.

Valletta’s Pauline Society and the Collegiate Chapter dedicated to St. Paul the Shipwrecked said the festive programme will then start with a Pontifical Mass presided over by Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna at 9:30am on Saturday, 24 February.

At 12:45 pm, the traditional procession begins with the participation of the Pauline Society and the La Valette philharmonic society.

The culmination of the feast takes place at 5:30pm, as the Synodal procession proceeds with the statue of St Paul and the saint’s venerated relic.

The procession will also accompanied by the St Paul Society Count Roger band from Rabat along with the Żejtun Beland band. The procession will pass St. Paul Street, St. Dominic Street, Merchants’ Street, Old Theatre Street, Republic Street, St John’s Square, Merchants Street, Melita Street, and St Paul Street.

On the feast’s eve on Friday, 23 February at 7:30am, the traditional night procession takes place with the participation of the La Valette band, concluding at the Barrakka Gardens with an aerial and ground fireworks display.