St Anne's Chapel, Qrendi

The Chapel of St Anne (Maltese: Il-Kappella ta' Sant'Anna) is a small Roman Catholic church located in the village of Qrendi, Malta.

Chapel of St Anne
Il-Kappella ta' Sant' Anna
Chapel of St Anne
35°49′54.5″N 14°27′27.9″E
LocationQrendi
CountryMalta
DenominationRoman Catholic
History
StatusActive
DedicationSaint Anne
Architecture
Functional statusChurch
Administration
ParishQrendi
ArchdioceseMalta
Clergy
ArchbishopCharles Scicluna

History

This chapel owns it origins to Giovanni Schembri who built it as a fulfillment to a vow he made during the Great Siege of Malta of 1565. Schembri vowed to build a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary should he and his family escape the perils of the Great Siege. Records from 1585 show that the chapel was in fact built and dedicated to the Nativity of Mary. Moreover, interesting to note is that the chapel was not mentioned in inquisitor Pietro Dusina's report of his apostolic visit to Malta in 1575 as the church was not built as yet however it is mentioned in 1598 as a 'recent building'.[1]

The church was blessed on September 6, 1589 by the parish priest of Żurrieq who was the parish priest of Qrendi as well since the parish of Qrendi was not yet established. The feast used to be celebrated with vespers on September 8. Another feast was celebrated in honor of Saint Venera, who appears in the titular painting. In 1796, the dedication of the church was changed from that of the Nativity of Mary to that of Saint Anne. The reason for this is not known however it may be that people started to refer to the church as St Anne's due to the image of St Anne appearing in the titular painting. That same year the chapel was restored by initiative of the parish priest Reverend Anton Mizzi. Recently the chapel was also restored by the parish priest Reverend Ray Toledo as part of the Qrendi Parish Millennium project. [2]

Interior

The chapel has three altars, one in the middles and two side altars. The titular painting, from an unknown artist, depicts the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus, St Anne, St John the Baptist and St Venera. [3]

References
  1. Ciantar, Noel. "Il-kappella ta’ Sant’Anna - Qrendi – ", Kappelli Maltin. Retrieved on 10 January 2017.
  2. "The Sant' Anna Chapel" Archived 2016-06-13 at the Wayback Machine, Qrendi parish. Retrieved on 10 January 2017.
  3. "THE CHAPELS OF QRENDI", Qrendi Local Council. Retrieved on 10 January 2017.
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