Is the Maltese Terrier nearing extinction on Malta?
Malta is interesting, cultured and devout — but her quieter sister Gozo is the real treasure. On pilgrimage to the relics of St Paul, the chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and a very important question about the Maltese Terrier. (7 min read)
Travelling alone is great for insight and self-awareness but retaining what has been revealed and understood is not so easy. And so I write stuff down in the hope that I will not just remember it but also integrate it.
Malta has been kind to me and I’m so grateful to have met her. She’s interesting, cultured, devout and popular. But, if the truth be said, I’m more drawn to her quieter sister Gozo and her beautiful sister Comino.
Many people believe that places call out to us in perfect time. Certainly, I have been thinking about visiting Malta for a couple of years. But this is more to do with the work of Tourism Malta than any higher calling.
Energetically, Malta was pretty much neutral for me – so I either have no karma there or have transmuted any I did have. Gozo, on the other hand, felt great – gentle, peaceful but also joyful. And Comino – with the famous Blue Lagoon – had me squealing with delight.
My lower mind needs plans. So my intention had been to carry rosaries on pilgrimage to places on Malta connected to St Paul. The tradition is that Paul was shipwrecked on the island, lived in a cave and converted the locals – who have maintained a staunchly Christian country ever since. The Shipwreck Church in Valletta, which I visited most days, has 2 important relics related to St Paul – his wrist bone and a piece on the column on which he was decapitated. The energy in this church, and particularly around the relics, was good for me and I did get the rosaries blessed here. However, there is also a Co-Cathedral dedicated to St Paul in Mdina and the cave and catacombs in nearby Rabat but neither of these places had much charge as far as I could sense. There are, however, lots of relics of other saints in this part of Malta. I am going to write to Pope Francis about contemporising the veneration of relics because things are not going well. Even the Cathedral Museum in Mdina (a museum run by the Church) opts to focus on the artistry of the reliquaries, rather than the saint whose relics are contained therein. And in the museum attached to the shrine of St Agatha has not even catalogued the hundreds of relics in its collection. This upsets me a lot.
Best laid plans… Within a few hours of arriving in Malta I intuited that a friend from the Casa Dom Inacio was nearby. In fact, he was arriving on a cruise ship at about that time. We had a meal together and caught up and laughed about what a small world it is when you are connected to Abadiania. I returned home to a message from another friend telling me he’d just arrived on Gozo (another Maltese island). I met Steve later in the week and had a fantastic time on Gozo and Comino with him (see my photo of the Blue Lagoon!). To make the story even more interesting, I noticed a relic of Ignatius (his signature) in the Cathedral Museum in Mdina, a relic of St Rita in Mdina and a painting of Xavier in pride of place in the Co-Cathedral of St John. BTW, in case you dont know, the patron saint of the Order of Malta is St John the Baptist – yet another connection. I’m labouring the point because it was obvious that the pilgrimage was happening despite any real effort on my part!
The greatest treasure on Malta is the little chapel maintained by the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This is a group of lay people devoted to this emanation of the BVM. Now, I’ve never been keen on the scapula but the amount of divine light in this little chapel has caused me to think again about it. Spirit is definitely at work in this chapel and I think it is most likely the main portal for the island and beyond. It felt like a strobe light and I had current face after sitting there for just 10 minutes. It is a modest little chapel but a place of deep devotion and answered prayers – there are hundreds of votives on the walls (little silver tokens of gratitude). I was magnetised to it but I’m sure most people miss it distracted by the huge basilica next door. If ever you visit Valletta you must go there.
The second greatest treasure on Malta is on the same street as the chapel of the confraternity – it is a hole in the wall business that makes treats from cacao. I tried about half of what they make and it everything was superb. It is called Theobroma and you will be glad you did!
Malta is a small island and it is relatively straight forward to get around by bus. I’ve already posted about my visit to the islands and to the ancient archaeological sites on Malta and Gozo – all by bus. The archaeological sites are believed to have had sacred purpose and would seem to be connected to others which are also oriented for ceremonies on the solstice. If I am honest, my experience of these sites was more intellectual curiosity and I did not feel anything different in the energy there. Of course, there are thousands of visitors to these sites every day which makes makes connection harder for me.
Valletta – the capital – is great for recovering your fitness because it is quite hilly and there are plenty of opportunities for walking. The buildings have quaint enclosed balconies which seem to be unique to this area and which I love. With the exception of the church bells, the city is quiet and tranquil (except when the cruise ship crowds arrive en masse). It is a fortified city and the wall and historical centre are obviously undergoing renewal – some buildings have been beautifully restored (think Avila or Salamanca) but most of the residential buildings need more attention (think Naples but without the nasty graffiti and litter). It is really charming.
I think it is possible to manifest very quickly on Malta. No sooner had I a thought than it was made manifest. Although it did take a little longer to clarify the situation with the Maltese Terrier. Why you ask?
I had been thinking a little too much about how great it is to be tall. The Maltese are very short and for the first time in my life I could easily see above the crowds. But this also provoked thoughts about the challenges of being tall. In particular, I refer to a particular hair style and colour preferred by the old Maltese ladies which, when it grows out, leaves a skunk like stripe down the middle of the crown. And I dont want to see that! So obsessing about the hair of the older ladies of Malta caused me to wonder if they did their hair to match the Maltese Terriers or if it was simply a coincidence? And this led to the realisation that I had not seen a single Maltese Terrier on my visit. So I asked for one. And, sure enough, within the hour I had my wish granted, although it was not a pure white one. So I googled the history of Maltese Terriers – something I never imagined I would care about – and found this site which will be of interest to at least two of you: http://www.petmaltese.com/maltese-dog-history .
The Maltese Terrier was dispersed all over the globe through trade and its finer qualities have been diminished through cross-breeding… so one could say that is a kind of extinction.
I have resisted googling whether the people of Maltese heritage are taller in foreign countries than they are in Malta. But it is an interesting question. We have a lot of Maltese people in Australia – mostly because Malta was the most bombed country in the second world war and in the 1950’s Australia welcomed foreigners in need of a home. My mama says the ones she knew in her childhood were very short but I think they are now of unremarkable height. So is that about cross-breeding? Or different lifestyle habits?
I would be remiss if I did not share the other thing I was seeking to understand – whether Maltesers come from Malta. I looked for them all over the island to no avail. So I googled it and found out that they were created by the American Forrest Mars (Snr) in England in 1936. Unbelievably, they were originally described as “energy balls” and aimed at slimming women.
Forgive the rambling – I’m over caffineated and under-fed and sitting in my cell in a convent in Rome wanting to close the last leg of my trip.
Visit Malta – you will enjoy it.
Namaste.
© Paul McCarthy & Iluminar.au
iluminar.blog 