Basilica of the Patronage of Our Lady

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Patronage, known in Maltese as Bażilika tal-Madonna tal-Patroċinju, is a small countryside church in Wied il-Għasri, Gozo, Malta. It is a minor basilica and serves as the vice-parish church of Għasri, within Għasri Parish. The current rector is Rev. Dr. Dominic Sultana.

The church’s façade has four Doric columns supporting a two-storey front, and there are two small bell towers (one old and one added in 2004) that house three bells together. It has a cupola but no lantern.

History and significance: The site has been used since at least 1530, when a small chapel dedicated to the Assumption of Mary was built by the Cini family. In 1657 the chapel was found to be unfit and was abandoned, then rebuilt in the 18th century. In 1656 Pope Alexander VII granted Mary the title Our Lady of Patronage, later made a universal devotion by Pope Benedict XIII. The devotion spread to Gozo, leading to the building of a new church between 1737 and 1739, consecrated on May 8, 1739, funded by Rev. Thomas Saliba. A pastoral visit in 1744 described a long hall with five arches and an alabaster altar. The main altarpiece shows the Blessed Virgin with a mantle covering a man and was painted by a local Senglea artist. The sacristy and other works were added later, along with a benefice to support the chapel’s maintenance.

The present church was built on a larger piece of land, with permission granted in March 1752. It was consecrated on October 5, 1754, and the current altar was consecrated in 1789. In 1768 the church was elevated to the dignity of a minor basilica and affiliated with Santa Maria Maggiore by Pope Clement XIII, making it the first basilica in Gozo. This status was confirmed again on March 7, 2004 after Vatican archival research.

In 1872 the area was raised to a vice-parish under Żebbuġ to better serve the people, and it remained a vice-parish until 1921, when a new parish church was built and the area became the parish church.