By Rohan Prince
Last year was the first time I came to the shrine of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu at Bacchus Marsh. I have fond memories of meeting Monsignor Benedict Camilleri, the founder of this Shrine, attributed to the apparition of Our Lady in 1883 in a small island called Gozo in Malta. Monsignor Camilleri is a kind-hearted man with a warm personality, and has given his all for the establishment of this shrine dedicated to the apparition of his home town. Unfortunately, this second time that the seminary visited the shrine, Monsignor Camilleri was not there as he is very ill and requires palliative care. Please keep him in your prayers.
We began our day at the Shrine with Mass in the chapel. This chapel is a replica of the chapel built in Gozo to Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu. It is a very beautiful and intimate chapel that allows us to go deeper in prayer and feel the closeness of Jesus and Our Lady. I was given the opportunity to altar serve at this Mass, which I am very grateful for. It is a great blessing to be able to serve as a seminarian in such a beautiful chapel.
After Mass, we began praying the Stations of the Cross. I was also a server for these prayers, with Luke Emslie and Chinh Tran, both seminarians who started seminary life with me. The Stations of the Cross are depicted along the mountain where the shrine is located, starting at the bottom of the mountain and progressing upwards. Each station is beautifully encapsulated by enthralling sculptures that vividly place you in the various moments of Jesus’ Passion. Praying the stations, however, was difficult admittedly, due to the uneven ground, filled with stones, doubly difficult due to the extra clothing required of me as a server and the heavy lantern I needed to carry. These difficulties, though, allowed me to imagine the sufferings of Jesus and see how minimal my sufferings are in comparison to what Jesus suffered. The difficult walk was a blessing in disguise, allowing us to feel more closely the ground on which Jesus walked these stations two thousand years ago. I praise and thank Jesus for all that he has done for us.
After the Stations of the Cross, we had lunch, hosted by the volunteers of Bacchus Marsh. We had a wonderful time enjoying the lovely food prepared by the volunteers. Although Monsignor Camilleri could not be with us in person, we had a video call with him, which was greatly appreciated by everyone. We ended the day by visiting the newly built adoration chapel. This adoration chapel is extremely beautiful, and I can’t wait to visit it next year!
Thank you, Monsignor Benedict Camilleri, seminary staff, and the volunteers at Ta’ Pinu Shrine for making this annual tradition a wonderful and fruitful experience. I can’t wait to come with the seminary next year!
