The Chapel of St. Paul the Hermit is a small church located in a cave in

Wied il-Għasel Wied il-Għasel ( en, Honey Valley) is a valley in Mosta, Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy an ...

, in Mosta,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

History

There are legends surrounding the beginnings of this chapel. However, facts show that inquisitor

Pietro Dusina Pietro Dusina was an Italian Roman Catholic priest from Brescia who was the inquisitor and apostolic delegate to Malta between 1574 and 1575. Dusina was nominated inquisitor of Malta by Pope Gregory XIII on 3 July 1574, and he arrived on the island ...

visited the chapel in 1575 during his apostolic visit to Malta. He mentions that the chapel has a wooden door, something uncommon in those days, and an altar. However, there was no rector and no liturgical vestments or objects. The bishop also wrote that a certain Paolo Cumbo paid for the feast of the saint to be celebrated every year. This chapel is also mentioned in the first history book of Malta written by

Giovanni Francesco Abela Giovanni Francesco Abela (1582–1655) was a Maltese noble who in the early 17th century wrote an important work on Malta, ''Della Descrittione di Malta isola nel Mare Siciliano: con le sue antichità, ed altre notizie'', "description of Malta ...

in 1647 describing some paintings that were in the chapel. In 1656, Ġan Pawl Mangion, a local from Mosta, brought a painting of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

and placed it in the cave. Bishop Balaguer of Malta gave permission for Mangion to rebuild the chapel and an altar around the painting in the cave. The chapel is also mentioned in 1676, when a certain Don Ortensio Bennini celebrated mass and preached in the chapel on its feast day. In time, the chapel was abandoned. It was only in 1920 that Archbishop

Mauro Caruana Sir Maurus Caruana, O.S.B., K.G.C., K.B.E. (November 16, 1867 – 17 December 1943), was a Maltese Benedictine monk who served as the Bishop of Malta and the Titular Archbishop of Rhodes. Early life He was born Luigi Carlo Giovanni Giuseppe Pu ...

appointed Rev. Karm Gauci to care for the chapel. Consequently, the chapel was restored and a belfry built. However, due to a blockage to the road which led to the chapel, people no longer went into the valley and the chapel was once again abandoned. The chapel was also vandalised numerous times. As a result, Archbishop Mikiel Gonzi deconsecrated the chapel. However, recently, the chapel was restored back to its original state.Spiteri, Mikiel (2000). ''A hundred wayside chapels of Malta and Gozo'', pp. 40-44. Heritage Books, Valletta. .

Interior

The chapel has an altar and a painting depicting St Paul the Hermit and St Anthony of Egypt. The painting is only a copy of the original, stolen in 1988, but found some time later. Today, it can be found in the Parish church of Mosta. In a small cave accessible from the chapel, there is an altar with a painting depicting the

References

{{reflist 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta Mosta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Roman Catholic chapels in Malta