St George Preca

Today happens to be the liturgical feast of Saint George Preca, the first Saint from Malta who has been canonized back in 2007 on June 3rd. We are all proud of his presence in our lives and even more special is the fact that many people who are still in their 60s and over remember him alive. St George was born on February 12, 1880, and he founded in the early years of the 20th century the Society of Christian Doctrine, a society of lay catechists. In Malta, he is affectionately known as "Dun Ġorġ" and is popularly referred to as the "Second Apostle of Malta", after St Paul, who brought the Christian faith to the shores of Malta when he was shipwrecked in 60 AD. Preca first came to the attention of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints which examined the scientifically unexplainable healing of Charles Zammit Endrich in 1964. Zammit Endrich had suffered from a detached retina of the left eye. The healing was declared as miraculous and was attributed to the intercession of Dun Gorg Preca after Zammit Endrich prayed to him and placed one of the priest's belongings under his pillow. The healing took place outside of a hospital, overseen by the personal doctor of Zammit Endrich, the ophthalmologist Censu Tabone, who was later to be appointed President of Malta. On 24 June 1975, Archbishop Michael Gonzi issued a decree initiating the process of Preca's canonization. He was declared "venerable" on 28 June 1999, and on January 27, 2000, Pope John Paul II signed the decree which officially confirmed the Zammit Endrich healing. In a ceremony in Floriana, Malta on 9 May 2001, Dun Gorg was beatified by the same Pope along with two other Maltese blesseds, Nazju Falzon, a cleric, and Adeodata Pisani, a nun. He became a saint on June 3, 2007, a day with heavy rain.

The canonization of St George at the Vatican, June 3, 2007.

In its early years, the Society of Christian Doctrine was silenced for a while, but its identity was recognized as Dun Gorg continued to teach students and form young unmarried men (and eventually women) so that they will eventually teach others. Today, almost every parish in Malta has a group of dedicated young men teaching catechism to the children, in preparation for their First Holy Communion, Confirmation and beyond. The Society of Christian Doctrine is commonly referred to by the acronym "MUSEUM", which stands for the Latin "Magister Utinam Sequatur Evangelium Universus Mundus!", translating to "Master, that the whole world would follow the Gospel!” St. George died on July 26, 1962, and thousands attended his funeral. His body was recently exhumed and re-buried in the headquarters of the MUSEUM society. The work he started continues on, even in foreign countries like London, Kenya, Peru, Poland, Albania, Cuba, and Australia.