As we will soon celebrate the 50th anniversary of the demise of the first parish priest of Marsascala, it is appropriate to say something about him so that his memory will not be forgotten.
Fr. Tarċisio Agius was born in Żabbar on 5th May 1914, to Carmelo Agius and Felicita née Muscat. He was the youngest child in a family of fourteen. He studied at the Żabbar primary school and then entered the seminary. He was ordained priest in Saint John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta on 25th July 1937 by the Bishop of Gozo Mgr Michael Gonzi. The following day he celebrated his first Mass in the church of Saint Anne. Between 1937 and 1943 he lectured at the College of St Aloysius in Birkirkara. In 1943 he became the fifth Vicar Curate of Marsascala and served with great dedication. It was he who in 1944 introduced the Christian doctrine society called ‘Museum’ in Marsascala. He taught children of the village and sought to open a government school.
As parish priest he wanted to do three things. The first was ordering a new statue of Saint Anne after receiving a donation from Spiru Vella, who was saved from a bomb attack along with three of his sons. The second was for Marsascala to become a parish. Indeed, the decree of the new parish was published by Archbishop Gonzi on 15th March 1949 in which it is stated that Fr Tarċisio was the first parish priest. He took possession of the parish on 19th March of that same year. The third wish was to build a new church after receiving a donation from Countess Carmela Apap Bologna. On 10th May 1959, he opened the first part of the church and the first Mass was celebrated.
On 30th November 1960 he resigned due to ill health and moved to Balzan. There he resumed teaching but did not last long before he went to meet the Lord on 30th July 1966 at the age of 52.
It is said that when he was building the church at Marsascala, Fr Tarċisio was going to change the titular of the parish to Our Lady of Lourdes, but on the advice of St. George Preca he did not.
Holy Picture of Fr.Tarċisio’s first mass
St.George Preca wrote in Ktieb tas-Sinjali (Book of Signs –, Edit. 1982, p30) that one of the signs of a true devotee of Mary is to honour Saint Anne and Saint Joachim to whom Mary showed much respect and honour. In his writing “Is-Sinagoga l-Ġdida” (The New Synagogue), he imagined the saints speaking to him; in paragraph 34 he imagined St Anne telling us: “My beloved brothers and sisters, listen and understand: if Mary my daughter, by her visit to Elizabeth and living there for three months filled with grace that material house, who can say with what grace and blessings she filled me, who for so many months held her inside my womb and for many years brought her up! If from a fruit you can recognize the tree, from the magnitude of my Daughter Mary you can imagine what was mine, as her mother. Turn towards me and you will not be disappointed.”
I take this occasion to pray for the soul of Fr Tarċisio Agius, and in our prayers would also like to remember the new parish priest of Marsascala, Father Roderick Camilleri who has recently begun his work there that he may shepherd his people according to God's heart.
Hermann Duncan O.Carm
Balluta