The Church of the Holy Spirit is a small

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

baroque church located in

Żejtun Żejtun ( mt, Iż-Żejtun ) is a city in the South Eastern Region of Malta, with a population of 11,218 at end 2016. Żejtun is traditionally known as Città Beland, a title conferred by the grandmaster of the Order of the Knights of Malta, F ...

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

Plans to build this Christian church were made on November 21, 1618, when Giovanni Cassar left a piece of land in his will which was to be used to build a church dedicated to the Holy Spirit. The present church was built in 1688 to plans by

Lorenzo Gafà Lorenzo Gafà (1639–1703) was a Maltese Baroque architect and sculptor. He designed many churches in the Maltese Islands, including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Victoria, Gozo. He was the younger broth ...

. Nonetheless, between 1788 and 1798 the church was extensively restructured, which gave it the form in which it is today. Prior to this restructuring, the church's facade was where today's back side is and vice versa. The church was also built on a crypt, the only church to have a crypt in the village.

Interior

The painting above the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

, dating from either the 17th or 18th century depicts the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...

. There are also two painting on the side of the main painting, one depicting the

Archangel Raphael Raphael (, "God has healed"), ''Rəfāʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Răp̄āʾēl''; lit. 'God has healed'; grc, Ραφαήλ, ''Raphaḗl''; cop, ⲣⲁⲫⲁⲏⲗ, ''Rafaêl''; ar, رافائيل, ''Rāfā’īl'', or , ''Isrāfīl''; am, ሩፋ� ...

with

Tobias Tobias is the transliteration of the Greek which is a translation of the Hebrew biblical name he, טוֹבִיה, Toviyah, JahGod is good, label=none. With the biblical Book of Tobias being present in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha of the Bible, To ...

and the other depicting St Jude the Apostle. There are a total of 3 altars, 2 being side altars. One of these is dedicated to

Our Lady of the Pillar Our Lady of the Pillar ( es, Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of the traditional belief that Mary, while living in Jerusalem, supernaturally appeared to the Apostle James the Greater in AD 4 ...

. Above the altar is a statue of the Virgin of the Pillar the work of Marjamu Gerada. The other altar is dedicated in honor of

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows ( la, Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows ( la, Mater Dolorosa, link=no), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names ...

with a paint of the same dedication by Toussaints Busuttil dating from 1945."Il-Knisja tal-Ispirtu s-Santu ~ Żejtun ~"
''Malta-Canada'', Malta. Retrieved on 22 July 2017.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Church of the Holy Spirit, Żejtun Żejtun National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Limestone churches in Malta Roman Catholic chapels in Malta