The Catholic Church today celebrates the feast of St George of Lydda – present Lod – a city southeast of Tel Aviv in the central district of Israel. It is chronicled that St George died on April 23, 303.
Stone sculpture of St George, perched on a garden wall in Sannat Road.
Devotion to the saint is worldwide but especially in the Holy Land, where the feast is celebrated in Palestine on May 6, according to the older calendar used by the Eastern Churches.
Devotion in Victoria
In Victoria, where I was brought up, I had to be especially devoted either to the parish of St George or to that of St Mary’s Assumption into Heaven. Gozo’s capital has always been patronised by ‘Ta’ l-Istilla’ (associated with St George’s parish) or ‘Ta’ l-Iljun’ (associated with St Mary’s parish).
PAINtings
by George Scicluna,
edited by Joseph Borg & Maria Frendo
“Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world”. This is what renowned British author C. S. Lewis of Narnia fame wrote in his famous book The Problem of Pain and this is what came to mind as I visited Il-Ħaġar Museum in Victoria (Gozo) for the inauguration of George Scicluna’s exhibition PAINtings.
The choice of the name for the present exhibition has a history of its own. Scicluna, together with our common friend and fellow painter Aaron Formosa and myself, were visiting Venice for a short holiday and both friends wanted to make the best of the time we had together by visiting as many art galleries as possible.