I am not one who usually dishes out compliments, but I thought of making an exception and congratulate the Victoria local council for thinking about restoring some street niches. My compliments also to the parliamentary secretary responsible for local government for instructing that public call for tenders are published in at least one newspaper, so that the general public (taxpayers) would know how their taxes are being spent.

A suggestion I would also like to make is that after a funeral Mass, to which many floral bouquets are brought, only a few be taken to the cemetery with the rest laid at street niches with a card soliciting prayers from passers-by for the repose of the deceased. Thus those not of the immediate family or circle of the deceased who do not frequent cemeteries could still say a prayer in the following days when passing by that particular street or corner niche.

I still have vivid recollections of some devout people at various times of the day, when passing by a niche, stopping for a minute or two to say a Hail Mary or some other prayer to win indulgences or for the souls in purgatory. It was one of the customs that distinguished our people and helped our small islands withstand much superior forces in the 1565 and WWII sieges.

G. Bonett

MARSALFORN