St Paul consecrating St Publius as Bishop, painting by Emvin Cremona |
Yesterday, the
church in Malta celebrated the feast of St Publius. He was the chief of the
island of Malta when St Paul was shipwrecked here in 60 AD. He welcomed St
Paul, St Luke and the 276 sailors who ended up drifting to shore on planks of
wood from the broken vessel on which they had traveled. Publius was very
generous and hospitable to all these people, and when St Paul found out that
his father was sick with fever and a bout of dysentery, he went to his house
and healed him, whereupon many other natives came to be healed of various
ailments. Eventually St Paul ordained St Publius as the first Bishop of Malta.
Later on in his life he was captured and martyred by the cruel Emperor Hadrian.
Most probably he was sent to the amphitheater and devoured by a lion, as his
statue always shows him with a lion next to him. The parish church of Floriana
is dedicated to him, and the impressive ceiling of the church was painted by
Emvin Cremona with various scenes from the life of St Publius.
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