As many of you are aware, this week Hamrun is in a festive mood. With vigour, this weekend the Hamrunizi will join forces. With enthusiasm and zeal, particularly on Sunday, the Hamrunizi will pay tribute to San Gejtanu, Patron Saint of the unemployed, the job seekers, the poor and the sick.
San Gejtanu was born to an aristocratic family in Vicenza, Northern Italy, He studied civil and canon law. He soon felt that Rome had lost its Christian spirit and launched a Church reform, first renouncing his title, and then founding the Theatines and working with the poor and the incurable. When the Saint was on his deathbed, his fellow Theatine brothers wished to move him from the floor where he habitually slept to a proper bed to make him more comfortable. However San Gejtanu, resigned to the Will of God, was happy to suffer in offering a last act of penance for himself and the world. He protested and said, "if hard wood is good enough for my Saviour to die on, then it is good enough for me".
The remains of San Gejtanu are in the church of San Paulo Maggiore in Naples, Italy.
San Gejtanu was introduced to the Hamrunizi by Gaetano Pace Forno, Bishop of Malta with the titular title of Archbishop of Rhodes. When a new parish church was being built in Hamrun in the 1870s, he expressed his wish to have the church dedicated to his namesake, San Gejtanu. The Hamrunizi of the time obliged with open arms. We owe it to them.
But from the spiritual to the revelry!
Like most of the Hamrunizi, this week I will put aside almost everything on my to-do-list and focus on the events which for the Hamrunizi take precedence. Among these, meeting with old friends and colleagues to share the festive spirit is obligatory. San Gejtanu is a unifying personage for the Hamrunizi, this notwithstanding the rivalry and healthy competition that exists between the Ghaqda tal-Muzika San Gejtanu and the Socjeta’ Muzikali San Guzepp. Both band clubs are situated on the main road, and both attract a large number of supporters, are well organised, and have an army of volunteers. The Socjeta’ Muzikali San Guzepp was founded in 1889 and later, in 1906, the Ghaqda tal-Muzika San Gejtanu was set up. Supporters of the former fly blue flags, the latter red.
On Sunday, many Hamrunizi will strive to split their day in two. In the morning, despite the scorching sun, the Hamrunizi will garner the required energy and take to the streets to actively participate and support one of the two band clubs. In the evening, despite the fatigue, many will join in the solemn procession with the statue of San Gejtanu. The highlight will be the statue of San Gejtanu being carried into the parish church, with the traditional running up the steps of the church parvis.
I know that I am biased, being a born and bred Hamruniz, but I dare say that the feast of San Gejtanu is one of a kind. On the Sunday morning on the day of the festa, the streets of Hamrun are a sea of blue and red. The festiveness of the morning band marches, which attract thousands, is unrivalled. And although some may speak of excesses, I have to say that there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. And it’s not me saying this. This is according to King Solomon, the tenth son of David and the third King of Israel. Tradition tells us that this was written toward the end of King Solomon reign. He earned a reputation for great wisdom, his wealth and his writings, though he also earned other less favourable references.
“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens”, cited in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, deals with the balanced, cyclical nature of life and illustrates that there is a proper time for everything and for every matter in life. For the Hamrunizi, old and young, the feast of San Gejtanu is a case in point. The passage mentions there is a time a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to be silent and a time to speak. I dare add there is time to be spiritual, but there is also a time for celebrations. Thus the traditional colourful Sunday morning manifestations with which the Hamrunizi celebrate the feast of San Gejtanu compliment the spiritual.
It is pertinent to note that Pope Francis is an eminent devotee of San Gejtanu. For many years before he was elected to lead the Catholic Church, Pope Francis used to lead pilgrims to the main sanctuary of San Gejtanu in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the country to which San Gejtanu is the Patron Saint.
To all the Hamrunizi friends, I take this opportunity to wish them a happy feast.
[email protected]