" MALTA Association "
• One hundred
years on
• SOS Malta Activity Report
- Claudia Taylor
One hundred years on ...
Sr. Katie Mifsud rscj
It was a time of poverty and widespread ignorance in Malta. It
was a time for new ventures, new initiatives when the Society
of the Sacred Heart opened its convent in Malta.
One hundred years ago a new life was born, a life that grew throughout
a century, and is still flourishing. It was a four-fold life,
with four different, yet strangely similar faces. All four sets
of eyes fixed on the one focus; four pairs of ears listening to
the same beckoning voice; four hearts responding to the same incessant
beating by that one drummer, moving to the rhythm set by him,
at times fast, at times more slowly.
It was a time of poverty and widespread ignorance in Malta, yet
a time of grace for the people and their Church. It was a time
for new ventures, new initiatives, new life, when four different
religious congregations had their beginning in Malta in that century-old
year, 1903. Two congregations of female religious, two of male,
one having its very roots planted in our soil. Of the three others,
two had already been established in France, one in Italy, their
beginnings spanning some two centuries.
The Daughters of the Sacred Heart, founded in Hamrun, the Christian
Brothers, the Salesians of Don Bosco, and the Society of the Sacred
Heart, opened their first convents in Malta in that same grace-filled
year of 1903.
The founders of the last three were all canonised in due course,
that of the first is on the way to beatification. All four had
one aim in common &endash; the education of youth. Both the
Christian Brothers and the Society of the Sacred Heart were also
entrusted with the training of teachers, a task they carried out
in mutual collaboration. The two female congregations were both
dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
So as the Society of the Sacred Heart brings to a climax its centenary
celebrations, it does so knowing that three other religious families
are having similar celebrations.
Seven religious of the Sacred Heart, of five different nationalities
were sent to Malta. They were Mothers Rumbold, who was to be superior,
Cloran, Mqler, de Montlivault and de Castries, as well as Sisters
Gonella and Cinti. They arrived in the early hours of the 13th
August 1903, and set up house at Villa Portelli, Sliema. Six weeks
later, towards 6pm of October 1st, the first seven boarders arrived.
Tessy, Lola and Consuela Francia, Agnes and Helen Asphar, Mary
and Nellie Ullo Xuereb were accompanied by their parents. Before
leaving their daughters, the parents admonished them to "behave,
and study and never to speak Maltese," an exhortation which
applied only to the children, for the parents spoke nothing but
Maltese all the time. An eighth child, Josephine Bugeja Caruana,
arrived two days later, on 3rd October.
The school desks had not yet arrived, but somehow enough chairs
for the girls were procured, although the children had to share
the only four tables available, and to keep their books, copybooks,
aprons and sunbonnets near them until the desks were eventually
delivered.
A year later a bigger group of children had their first day in
the "poor school", immediately named Rosary School.
The journals of the first years of both schools are vibrant with
details &endash; so many activities went on, besides the actual
teaching, that one wonders at the nuns' energy. Sports and games
were a sine qua non right from the beginning; music, dancing,
drama played a major role in the education programme; outside
lecturers spoke on a wide range of subjects; competitions galore;
celebrations for all sorts of reasons.
One hundred years on; and as the years rolled by, the school grew
and changed according to need or circumstances. 1907 saw the move
to the new school building, today educating one thousand children.
In 1920 a new block went up, to house the Rosary School, as both
schools had grown too big to be under the same roof. During the
war years the schools did their best to continue, but the boarding
school was disrupted when the premises were taken over to become
a hospital. The bomb which fell on the school grounds shattered
thousands of window panes, but fortunately injured no one. December
1944 saw the beginning of teacher training, in small groups, for
a ten-week crash course; teachers being desperately needed with
compulsory education coming in force in 1946. With no spare rooms
available, lectures were held in the two rooms on top of the sacristy.
When the yearlong course commenced, an extension to the Rosary
school was built to accommodate sixty students. In 1949 the course
became a residential one, with the subsequent need for more space.
So the Rosary school closed its doors temporarily to make way
for the training college. The new college was opened at Tal-Virtù,
Rabat in 1954. This building saw generations of often timid girls
leaving it as mature women after two, later three, years of residential
training. It was with deep regret that the news of its closure
by the government was received in 1973. In the meantime, with
the college move to Tal-Virtù, the Rosary School re-opened
its doors in 1955, becoming a state school with the proviso that
its head would always be a religious of the Sacred Heart. The
school had long become the model for other primary schools, both
state and private. With the introduction of compulsory secondary
education in 1970, this school became a secondary one.
It was a sad day for all at the Sacred Heart when the government
decided to move that school to other premises in Sliema. The Rosary
School closed its doors in 1978, never to open them again.
This school had an offshoot, which is still going strong. The
Duchesne Library for children has greatly expanded from its modest
beginnings in 1969, and has seen generations of children borrowing
its books and attending its special literary activities. A similar
library was opened at Fgura some years later, and it too grew
and expanded its young membership. Unfortunately this library
had to close when the sisters decided to move out of Fgura.
The boarding school, which had become a day school some years
previously, continued to flourish and grow. With the introduction
of scholarships, many who would not otherwise have afforded private
education could enter that school, thus indirectly helping to
achieve the desired social mix among the pupils. Other changes
took place, in line with developments in education on the island.
The Sixth Form has long closed its doors, the Sacred Heart students
going for their post-secondary education to bigger schools, where
a wider choice of subjects could be offered. New subjects were
introduced, a fully equipped gymnasium built, a modern hall is
nearing completion. It also passed through very difficult times,
including the trauma of 1984, with its doors closed for a number
of weeks while the church-state dispute over schools raged. The
number of religious teaching in the school grew progressively
smaller, that of lay teachers bigger.
However in the midst of the changes, some things remained constant.
The Society is still dedicated to the glory of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, through a life of prayer and the service of education.
It still aims at an all-round, child-centred education, where
the imparting of Christian, human values are given first priority,
where each child and person is valued for what she is, not for
what she can achieve academically, and where each and every one,
including the staff, is encouraged to give of her best. And in
our shrinking, globalised world, where injustice, war, violence
of all sorts and at all levels of society, seem to be the order
of the day, the Sacred Heart child is helped to reach the stage
where she will be able to commit herself to work for justice and
peace, in whatever sphere she will find herself as an adult. Many
are the "Old Girls" of the Sacred Heart who today are
leaders in their chosen careers and in philanthropic activities.
Today education is seen in its broader sense, going beyond school
and classroom. The Society's educational vision covers a wide
range of activities, all aimed at promoting the dignity of the
human person, precious in the sight of God, and for whom his Son's
Heart was pierced on the cross. This led to the religious moving
into smaller houses to be among the people, sharing their daily
life, welcoming them in their convents, one with the people's
joy and pain, sharing meals, prayers, and the vision of a better
world. The Society's vision is today, more than ever before, being
shared by its lay collaborators, an increasing number of whom
are becoming Associate members of the Society, sharing its spirituality
and mission.
As the Society of the Sacred Heart in Malta celebrates its centenary
on 27th June, feast of the Sacred Heart, it does so with a deep
sense of gratitude for its past, joy in the present, and hope
for the future.
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