Christmas Message from the President of the Maltese Association
Dear Confrères and Consoeurs, dear Volunteers and Friends,
The Christmas holidays are now imminent, and I would like to send you, Members of the Maltese Association, as well as all our volunteers and friends, my best wishes for a blessed Christmas and a joyous Jubilee Year of Hope ahead.
This year, as in every year, the Maltese Association has carried out numerous hospitaller activities in favour of the needy, the poor and the sick. Among these are the almost daily service at SAMOC, the initiative at I-Kcina ta’ Marta, the Prison Ministry, as well as the continuous work by the Order of Malta Gozo Volunteers in support of those in need on our sister isle – the old, the sick and the vulnerable. We were fortunate to have had two extremely successful pilgrimages during 2024 – the international one to Lourdes and the national one to Ta’ Pinu- where we were able to aid and assist Our Lords the Sick. Additionally, we had a strong delegation attend the Order’s International Summer Camp and hosted our first ever Local Summer Camp for young disabled, which was a veritable success. Meanwhile, preparations are already in full swing for the 2025 Lourdes Pilgrimage, where, we hope, our contingent will reach pre-pandemic numbers again.
Allow me here, to thank you all for your dedication, support and service throughout the year, without which we would be unable to do all the good work we do under the banner of our beloved Order.
This year closes with the start of a special event: The Jubilee Year 2025 – a Holy Year of Hope. A large contingent comprising Members and volunteers from our Association will be travelling to Rome for a week of service in January, and manning the first aid posts in St. Peter’s, as well as in the three other major Roman basilicas, St John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Walls and St Mary Major, which will be manned by the Order throughout the year.
Your consistency and devotion to helping others is most praiseworthy and I thank you, one and all, for your work and your dedication to live the charisms of our Order – Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum. What our forebearers set up almost a thousand years ago is as relevant today as it was then.
A very happy and holy Christmas to you and your families.
With my Confraternal wishes,
Michael Grech
President
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