George Preca

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Saint George Preca
Second Apostle of Malta
Born (1880-02-12)12 February 1880
Valletta, Malta
Died 26 July 1962(1962-07-26) (aged 82)
Santa Venera, Malta
Honored in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified 9 May 2001, Floriana, Malta[1] by Pope John Paul II
Canonized 3 June 2007, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI
Feast 9 May
Patronage Malta, Society of Christian Doctrine

George Preca (in Maltese: Ġorġ Preca) (12 February 1880 – 26 July 1962) was a Maltese Roman Catholic priest who founded the Society of Christian Doctrine,[a] 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 Paul of Tarsus. He was canonized on 3 June 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.[2]

Life

Veneration and cause for canonization

Preca first came to the attention of the Ordinary Congregation of the Cardinals and Bishops of the Congregation for 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 the Preca[1] 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, Ċensu Tabone who was later to be appointed President of Malta.

On 24 June 1975, Archbishop Mikiel Gonzi issued a decree initiating the process of Preca's canonization. He was declared "venerable" on 28 June 1999, and on 27 January 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, Father Preca was beatified by Pope John Paul II with Nazju Falzon and Maria Adeodata Pisani.[1]

Canonization

On 23 February 2006 during the Vatican consistory, Preca was proclaimed the second Maltese Catholic saint, after Saint Publius. He was canonized in Rome on 3 June 2007 along with three other new saints.[2] In his homily, Pope Benedict XVI called Saint George Preca "a friend of Jesus", and at the end of the celebration, he spoke in Maltese, saying the newly declared saint is the second father in faith of the Maltese and Gozitan people.

Preca's Statue & Relic

A statue of Preca was unveiled at St Cajetan Parish Church of Ħamrun during a solemn Mass presided by Archbishop Paul Cremona on Thursday 17 December 2009. The statue was placed on the same spot where St George spent hours hearing confession. By the statue there is also his relic with a sample of his blood. Many are those who come to St Cajetan's Parish to ask for his intercession and make their prayers in front of his relic. The bronze statue is the work of sculptor Gianni Bonnici and was executed in Caggiati, Parma, Italy.

Luminous Mysteries

In 2002 Pope John Paul II introduced five new mysteries of the rosary known as the Luminous Mysteries. There has been many claims that the author of these mysteries is none other than Father Preca himself. The reason for this is because in 1957 he wrote five mysteries which he called the Mysteries of Light. Theses mysteries of the rosary are very similar to the ones that the Pope had introduced, in fact they are practically the same except for some minor details.

Notes

  1. ^ 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!"[3]
  2. ^ Permanent deacons are deacons that are not candidates for priestly ordination. The purpose that Preca had in mind for the membership of his society would be helping the Maltese bishops in the doctrinal formation of those in their bishoprics.
  3. ^ For the words of Pope John Paul at the ceremony, see the Vatican press release: In the Footsteps of St. Paul: Papal Visit to Greece, Syria, and Malta. Notably, His Holiness makes parallels to the Society's title (Magister utinam..., etc.) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and refers to Preca as "Malta's second father in faith."

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Dun Gorg Preca". Newsmakers in 2001. Malta Today. 2001-12-30. Retrieved 2007-04-10. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Gorg Preca is officially Malta's first Catholic Saint". MaltaStar. 2007-02-23. Archived from the original on 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2007-04-09. 
  3. ↑ Jones, Terry. "George Preca". Patron Saints Index. Retrieved 2007-04-09. 

External links

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