Reflections

Most people plan a pilgrimage, such as to Lourdes or Fatima, in advance. Sometimes though, a pilgrimage can be more spontaneous.

This Summer, we had a family holiday in Malta. Shortly before leaving, my wife mentioned to a friend that we were  staying at Mellieħa. “Oh” said the friend ,“are you making a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Mellieħa?” As we had not previously heard of Our Lady of Mellieħa, as a place of pilgrimage, that had not been our intention. However having now heard of this, we were intrigued to discover more.

On the transit coach from the airport to our hotel in Mellieħa, my wife asked the guide about this. Although he had been on the island for 10 years, he had not heard of this. Surely someone at our hotel would know but when we asked the receptionist, she too was unaware of it.

It was therefore to our great surprise that we discovered the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieħa only a couple of hundred yards from our hotel. Christian devotion here goes back to the dawn of Christianity in 60 A.D. As described in the Acts of the Apostles, the boat taking St Paul as prisoner to Rome was shipwrecked off the coast of Malta. Tradition has it that St Paul, with his companion St. Luke, initially sheltered in a cave at Mellieħa. It was here that St. Luke is said to have painted a fresco depicting the Virgin Mary on the cave’s rock face. This would have been one of the earliest depictions of Mary, by one who had met her.

The original fresco has long since gone but above the altar in the Sanctuary is an icon of Our Lady, believed to date from the eleventh century. The fascinating question is the extent to which this icon might replicate and resemble that original fresco and how far therefore, we can glimpse how Mary herself looked. My wife observed the Mary depicted looked more Middle Eastern than the more European image often shown.   It is a miracle that we still have this icon. In 1614, the church was sacked during an  Ottoman attack and the fresco was damaged but fortunately it was the lower half.

The lay-out of the site is a bit confusing. Across the road from the Sanctuary, down 78 steps, one finds the Grotto . Although this is a place of prayer and looks as if it might be the cave where St Luke painted his fresco , it dates from the seventeen century and is not that cave. That cave has now become the Sanctuary chapel where the icon is.

High above the Sanctuary is the main church. On the Sunday we attended mass, local people were in the bigger main church where the mass was in Maltese.

We felt blessed to attend a mass in English in the Sanctuary – the icon of Our Lady above the altar at one end of the church, the doors wide open at the other end of the Sanctuary -looking out over the sea – Stella Maris.

August 2025 Jonathan Holder

Details;

Project aim: improve the access to education in a remote province of Panama – El Valle de Anton.
Project Organiser: Challenges Abroad
Catenian donation: £400

Motivations;

Having participated and won one of the Catenian’s regional public speaking competitions, was the first time I was made aware of the Bursary Fund. I have always felt a responsibility to help others, primarily founded by the warm Catholic environment my school, St Josephs RC High School (Slough), fosters within us. One biblical teaching always stuck out to me and that was “Faith itself, if not accompanied by action is dead” (James 2:17). To me, it suggests us, as Catholics, have the innate duty to actively serve others with love, care, compassion and dignity, and I thought this could be achieved in no better way than through helping young, impoverished children, in local primary schools.

Project Delivery;

Organised heavily in conjunction with my school, and several other Catholic schools in our academic trust, we were able to fundraise enough money to send 15 young Catholics, including myself, to Panama to deliver English workshops in two local primary schools in a remote town called El Valle de Anton, located in the Cocle province.

A typical daily itinerary was usually like this;

6am – Wake-up
7am – Breakfast
8am – 12pm teaching in school
1pm – Lunch
2pm – 7pm miscellaneous activities, such as workshop planning, hikes, bike rides, karaoke to name a few

8pm – Dinner
10pm – Curfew

From the first day we arrived, we were instantly in the classroom helping to deliver English workshops. Topics included body features, movement, conservation, recycling and many more. The years we taught spanned from kindergarten to grade 9, which in age roughly translates from 5 to 15 years old.

As seen in the pictures, I think the workshops were a major success, and I do not want to estimate how many hugs and high-fives we received during the entire duration of our trip. In total we spent roughly 4 hours each day teaching, usually each lesson lasting from an hour to and hour and a half. There were two primary schools, one large one (approximately 400 students) and one small one (150 students). Classes tended to vary in size, but I would say on average there were about 15 children per class. We tended to split into groups of 3, so as to teach as many classes simultaneously without being overburdened by too many energetic kids running around.

Panama is also known for its large rainforests and incredible biodiversity, so we also spent a large portion of our time caring for and tending to the wildlife situated near us. One notable highlight was partaking in a night hike. Leaving at 10pm, we were guided through a remote trail and told to look out for as many strange creatures as possible. The wide variety of things we saw was magnificent and made me more aware of the beauty of our natural world. Some things pictured included snakes, hummingbirds, frogs and geckos.

We also helped more generally in the local community. For example, we spent a few hours each week at the recycling centre helping to sort plastics and bottles into separate piles ready for collection and reuse. The people is what made this trip so enjoyable, as the entire local community were so incredibly welcoming and made us feel like local celebrities. On numerous occasions, we would find ourselves playing football with the locals, trying local street food, or even being given souvenirs all because the people there felt gratitude for what we were doing.

One of my favourite highlights was visiting one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. Coincidentally named Parroquia San Jose (the church of Saint Joseph) its design was intricate and flawless. Catholic faith permeates in Panama, as a large percentage of the population are Roman Catholic. When I asked some of the children I was teaching what it meant to be Catholic, their responses were heartwarming. One that will stick in my head is “Being Catholic means my faith is part of who I am. Its not just about going to church, its about how I live: being loving, kind, caring to those around me. I like knowing I am part of that tradition”.

Spiritual / General overview;

I cannot put into words what an unbelievable, rewarding and enriching experience it was. Being able to plan and deliver English workshops to several different classes spanning a wide age range and topics, I truly cannot fathom in words how much happiness it brought me. To be honest, I was quite scared going into this trip as unsure of what to expect. But, from the first day, seeing the smile I was able to put on their faces made this whole experience worth it. While exhausting, it was without a doubt the most rewarding thing I have done probably in my entire life, and I would confidently say I am not the same person I was when I first embarked on it.

Spiritually, I feel I have put my Catholic faith into meaningful, impactful action. This trip, and your organisation as the Catenians, is what gave me confidence to apply for head boy, of which I was successful. I look forward to improving the Catholic environment of our school to encourage others to take part in experiences like this.

I would implore anyone who even has the slightest motivation to go volunteering to do it, even if you are quite young (in my case 17). The Catenians’ financial support made this possible, and I will be forever grateful for the lifelong memories I was able to make. I am sure this will not be my last report I will be making for you, as I am sure I will want to take part in more volunteering ventures in the future.

Cameron Fyfe August 2025