On 2 February, the diocesan process of beatification (and possible subsequent canonisation) of Fr Avertan Fenech will be initiated at the Carmelite Church in Mdina by His Grace the Archbishop of Malta Mgr Charles J. Scicluna.
Only a couple of months ago, celebrationswere held at the Carmelite churchin Mdinaand Mosta Parish church to commemorate the death of Fr Avertan Fenech, a Carmelite friar who lived a very saintly life devoted to prayer and sacrifice.
Lwiġi (Aloysius) Fenechwas born in Mosta on 10July 1871 to Duminku and Marija née Attard. The day after his birth he was baptised in Mosta Parish Church and named after Saint Aloysius Conzaga. During his childhood his parents always tried to protect him from evil and did what they could to steer him in the right direction. They were very conscientious, and lived a good and simple life. The first words Lwiġi learnt at home were ‘Jesus’ and ‘Mary’.
When he was seven he entered government school where he set a good example to his class-mates: his friends always admired him for paying attention and never disturbing anyone in the class.
On 29May 1881 he received his First Holy Communion and soon after he was confirmed by the Bishop Msgr Carmelo Scicluna. From an early age Luigi wanted to become a Carmelite friar and as he grew older he felt the calling to religious life growing stronger. Some years later, his parents sent him for Italian and Latin private lessons with a priest in Naxxar, who contributed towards strengthening Lwiġi’s vocation.
Two or three years later, Lwiġi approached Fr Lwiġi Malfatti, the Prior Provincial of the Carmelite Order, to ask if he could join the Order, and this he did on 6February 1888 at the Valletta Priory where he began his novitiate. As was customary, at this point he was given another name – Avertan. A year later,on 27 February 1889, he made his simple profession in the Oratory of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Valletta under the Prior Provincial. Soon after he began his studies of philosophy and theologyand on 27 February 1982, exactly three years after making his simple profession, Fr Averton took his solemn vows under the Vicar Provincial in the Novitiate Chapel of the Carmelite Priory in Valletta.
When Balluta Priory opened in 1882, he moved there together with his colleagues, under the direction of Fr Franġisk Raiti who later became the Bishop of Trapani. On 5 July 1896, the Bishop of Gozo Msgr. Ġiovanni Camilleri OSA ordained him a priest in the Chapel of the Bishop’s Palace in Gozo and a few days later he celebrated his first solemn mass in the Carmelite Basilica Sanctuary in Valletta.
His first years as a priest were spent in Balluta Priory, where he used to hear confessions. Many people sought him for confession – he was considered to be a man of prayer who always kept God before his eyes. Those who saw him walking in the street would always be struck by his serious demeanour and composure.
In 1896 he was chosen to be Student Formator at Balluta Priory,where his students regarded him as a model of Carmelite spirituality. He was later sent to Mdina Priory, where he became Formator of the Novitiate. FrAvertan was also a Provincial Councellor and Vice Prior at Mdina Priory as well as Secretary to the Provincial.
In May 1919, together with the Prior Provincial, he was chosen to go to Rome to attend the General Chapter, where his manner, words and personality made a strong saintly impression on the other friars attending the Chapter.
The Prior General of the Order, Fr Elijah Maggennis, was surprised by the humility of this friar and the Provincial of the Carmelites in the United States requested him to write about the true spirit of Carmel and what the religious could do to preserve this spirit. In addition to his meticulous service and sense of duty to the provincial office,Fr Averton was sought for his confessions and spiritual direction. He left writings of simple and profound spirituality.
Shortly after attending a Provincial Chapter at which FrĠwann Azzopardi was chosen to be Prior Provincial,FrAvertan suffered an epileptic attack which left him bedridden for eleven-and-a-half years and which he accepted with an open heart. His confessor, the Dominican Fr Parnis, said that throughout his life he had never sinned seriously or gravely.
He died on 1November 1943, constantly bound to the Will of God. His funeral was held inMdina Priory,followed by his interment in the Priory crypt. Archbishop Gonzi oversaw the exhumation of his remains in 1968. There is a lot to say about this friar who was a model to his fellow brethren.
May the Lord grant us friars such as Fr Avertan who, in this confused world,can teach us and remind us of God’s priority in our life as well as how to accept sickness and suffering.
I encourage you to visit his room in Mdina Priory, which is still preserved, and also the crypt in the priory where he is buried.
Fr Hermann Duncan O.Carm
Balluta