Feast of St Julian

The main altar of the old St Julian church

This weekend being the feast of Saint Julian, my patron saint and my home saint, I share today a photo of the two churches dedicated to him. The smaller older church is close to 200 years old, and it became pretty small for the population which was growing fast in 1950s and early 1960s, and so a new one was built and finished in 1969. This is where I served for the 4 years as Assistant Pastor here between 1977 and 1981, and I still celebrate Mass there occasionally, but usually, whenever I am needed, I celebrate Mass at the smaller church dedicated to St Julian and also to the Ascension. That’s where my parents were married, where I was baptized, and where I served hundreds of Masses as an altar-boy.

The new St Julian church built between 1962 and 1969

Obviously during this week they are dressed up in their finest outfit as you can see from these photos. The old church has a set of 6 statues of the apostles which are made from paper-mache and gilded in gold. They match perfectly the set of gold chandeliers that are placed on the main altar during this festa week. The tabernacle also is as old as I can remember as are the bouquets of flowers that are placed between the chandeliers. Much of the work has been done by a group of young enthusiasts who dedicate many hours in refurbishing, cleaning and decorating the inside, as well as the outside of the church with beautiful banners. The new church is modern in style and welcomed St John Paul II in 1990 where he gave a speech - the church was painted for that occasion with a different stream of colors, which has since been accepted by all parishioners. The photo attached was taken just this week during one of the Masses celebrated there.