Throughout Catholicism, few figures command such reverence as Mary, Mother of Jesus. Her unique place in the canon of the Son of God is one well-known throughout the world, with December each year marked by nativity scenes portraying Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. What is perhaps less widely-known outside of devotees of the faith, however, is her own divine heritage which, according to Catholic dogma, is characterised by a conception free from original sin. The event of Mary’s birth itself, is therefore one of immense significant to Christians — in part due to her role in the story of Jesus, but additionally for her own special heritage.

On 8 December, Catholics around the world celebrate this event to varying extents, with a variety of traditions including candlelit vigils, the singing of hymns, the baking of special confectionaries, feasting and a nine-day period of prayer in anticipation of the event. In Malta, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception — like many other sacred festivities in the country — is celebrated with processions involving the carrying of statues, accompanied by traditional feast music performed by village bands in tow.

Of particular note are the celebrations to take place in the double-fortified harbour city of Cospicua — or, Bormla, as it was originally named before the early 18th century. As has been noted in previous editions of Oh My Malta, each locality in Malta annually celebrates a feast specific to that area, usually in honour of a particular patron saint. Indeed, some localities may even celebrate numerous feast days in honour of different patron saints, these divisions often originating from an area’s prior existence as two separate towns or villages. In the case of Cospicua, the city’s feast day itself falls on 8 December due to its dedication to the Virgin Mary, leading to extensive celebrations in the area by both locals and from those residing in other parts of Malta in honour of this significant day.

Dating back to the Neolithic period, Cospicua first gained prominence in the Phoenician era, when its importance as a maritime location began. Under the Knights of Saint John, construction of large-scale fortifications were completed in the early 1700s, with a dockyard completed later that century. Cospicua’s maritime significance — in particular its dockyard — became increasingly pronounced under British rule, with the city playing an important role during World Wars I and II.

In Catholic theology, the remarkability of the immaculate conception cannot be easily overstated, attributing to Mary — and, therefore, to the mortal side of Jesus’ lineage — a special and unique moral quality. For Christians, the concept of original sin has its roots in the Old Testament when Adam was tricked into eating the forbidden fruit of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, disobeying God and passing this sin to his descendants and, therefore, the rest of humanity. However, this transference of original sin remains the subject of some debate, especially in the context of contrasting ideas present in the Hebrew Scriptures and some of the Gospels. Indeed, even the establishment of this idea as a main tenet in Catholicism remains controversial, with the concept only being formally recognised in 1854, when Pope Pius IX degreed the belief as official dogma in the papal bull (an official decree published by the Catholic church) Ineffabilis Deus.

While there has been understandable divergence from this belief following the allowance for originality of interpretation that first gained traction in the middle of the 2nd millennium, and increasingly in the Enlightenment (primarily amongst divergent strands of Christianity such as Protestantism and Anglicanism), the concept of original sin remains a firm strand of Catholic theology to this day, with Mary’s unique nature standing out as a quality central to both hers and Jesus’ divinity. The Feast of Immaculate Conception, therefore, remains one of Malta’s most important and loved festivals. Visitors to Malta are strongly advised to attend this feast, both to better connect with the country’s unique culture built on ideas of community and ecclesiastical celebration, and, importantly, to have fun.