St Francis Friary, Ħamrun

The arrival of the Franciscan friars in Ħamrun occurred on 24 May 1947, when the Minister Provincial Fr. Anġeliku Azzopardi was offered with the possibility of renting a house in Ħamrun to establish a friary and chapel. The area was close to the outskirts of Ħamrun, between Santa Venera and Msida. Already in 1944 the friars had been offered the possibility of building a friary in Fgura, but in 1947 the Provincial Alfons Marija Camilleri found opposition from the Carmelite friars who, in front of Archbishop Mikiel Gonzi, insisted that the place had been offered to them by Bishop Mauro Caruana OSB. Through the work of the first friars, notably Fr. Tarċisju Xerri, the fraternity took this house on the corner between Lord Byron Street and Adelaide Cini Street, and transformed the garage on the ground floor into a chapel and the first floor into a friary. The chapel was blessed on 16 August 1947. The chapel became very popular with the local people of Ħamrun and the need was felt to build a larger church and a friary. Various attempts were made, but to no avail. The Carmelites of the parish of Santa Venera objected to the building of a Franciscan church in the limits of their parish. At long last a plot of land was found in Villambrosa Street in the limits of the parish of Saint Cajetan of Ħamrun. With great difficulty the architect Ġużè D’Amato constructed concrete arches in an old quarry on which this plot of land stood. On 13 April 1952 Fr. Anġeliku Azzopardi laid the foundation stone of the new church dedicated to St. Francis Stigmatized. The church was completed and blessed on 30 October 1954. The new church was consecrated by Archbishop Mikiel Gonzi on 25 May 1955. The new friary was inaugurated on 6 November 1955 by the Minister Provincial Alfons Marija Camilleri. Benefactors of the new church were Antonio and Emilia Theuma who paid for the white Carrara marble statues of St. Francis, St. Anthony and Our Lady of Lourdes, worked by the firm Sarti of Pietrasanta. Other marble works are the three altars, the Via Crucis and the pulpit, also paid by the Theuma benefactors in 1956. The bell tower was built in 1957. On top of the bell tower was placed a stone statue of St. Francis, the work of sculptor Marco Montebello. It was blessed on 21 February 1960. Unfortunately, as a result of weathering on the stone, the statue had to be taken down in 2026. The titular statue of St. Francis embracing Christ Crucified is the work of the Gozitan Wistin Camilleri and was finished on 26 May 1958. In 1966, through the initiative of Fr. Danjel Azzopardi, a carillon set of 12 bells was installed by the firm Petit & Fritsen of The Netherlands, nowadays called Royal Eijsbouts. The church is also a centre of devotion towards the Virgin Mary of Perpetual Help (Madonna tas-Sokkors Perpetwu). On 2 February 1954 a copy of the icon of the Virgin Mary of Perpetual Help venerated in the church of Sant’Alfonso in Via Merulana, Rome, and originating from Crete, was placed in the church. It was painted by the Roman artist Marcello Liberati. A perpetual novena is celebrated every Wednesday. The sacred image was placed in a side chapel on the left hand side of the main altar.

Historical information: Ġorġ Aquilina OFM, Il-Franġiskani Maltin (Ta’ Ġieżu), Malta 2011.