Born in 1931, Mr Formosa helped Dun Ġorġ, as St Ġorġ was popularly known in his life, transcribe his writings into modern Maltese for printing and used to meet him every weekend.

“He was a man of God, always thinking about God,” he says.

“Dun Ġorġ understood that Christ’s incarnation was not a one-time event that took place in history but a continuous happening at all times. He therefore attempted to incarnate Jesus in the lives of people who came in contact with him,” Mr Formosa had written in the publication Dun Ġorġ, issue number 37. “This was the main wish he expressed since the founding of his society in 1907. From the term muzew, the name the young members gave their society, Dun Ġorġ came up with the prayer and programme: Magister, Utinam Sequatur Evangelium Universus Mundus, meaning, how good it would be if the entire world were to follow the Gospel.”

The Child Jesus procession started 89 years ago in 1920/21 and is now held in five other countries besides Malta, where the M.U.S.E.U.M. society is active: Australia, England, Albania, Kenya and Peru. Throughout the month of December, M.U.S.E.U.M. society members prepare children to sing carols. One child or two are taught a sermon to be recited at the end of the demonstration. Banners with Bible sayings about the Child Jesus and candle torches are carried.

The procession, with Baby Jesus in a manger, starts from the M.U.S.E.U.M. society premises in 66 localities around Malta and Gozo and ends at a chapel or the parish church before the midnight Eucharistic celebration. Although the first peaceful activity of the sort took place so long ago, there have been few variations throughout the years.

Children, sometimes dressed as shepherds or angels, gather around the manger to sing accompanied by piano accordions and violins. Other instruments have been introduced in certain towns and villages and some processions are even accompanied by wind and brass bands. Poems are sometimes recited or a play may be performed in place of the sermon, but the fulcrum remains a banner bearing the words ‘Verbum Dei Caro factum est’ – the motto of the M.U.S.E.U.M. society which translates into the words: the Son of God became man.

“The demonstration was intended to show the son of God became one of us,” Mr Formosa notes. Christmas had a special meaning for Dun Ġorġ. It was not just a feast for children but for adults and children alike to rejoice in the birth of baby Jesus. Mr Formosa likens Dun Ġorġ to St Francis of Assisi, who 700 years before had made the first crib and, similarly, Dun Ġorġ wanted to celebrate a special Christmas in 1921.

The first year it was held in Hamrun, St Ġorġ Preca’s hometown, and there was not much time for preparation after the priest first expressed his wish to go out into the streets announcing that Baby Jesus was born for us. The Franciscan Conventual Fathers of Valletta had leant them their statue of Baby Jesus in a manger and the demonstration started at 5pm.

The tunes Ninni la Tibkix Izjed, Adeste Fidelis and more hymns in Latin were sung in the streets while candles and palm and olive leaves and branches were carried.

Christ’s incarnation had taken place in a cave in Bethlehem and the feast of Christmas, marking this event, was indeed special for Dun Ġorġ.

Before the demonstration, he used to send a crib or Baby Jesus to every family whose children attended the M.U.S.E.U.M. society so as to share the Christmas spirit with them. He also used to build a large crib at his house and eventually started to display a Baby Jesus opposite the St Gaetan church in Hamrun.

The procession soon started to be performed in several towns and villages in Malta and eventually in Gozo in the 1940s. It also started to be held in places abroad where there are Maltese communities or priests. In Australia, for instance, it started to be held in 1956 when Dun Ġorġ was still alive.

Mr Formosa, who has participated in this procession in Australia twice, however remarked “it is not the same as in Malta,” reasoning that it is because in the Antipodes Christmas comes in summer.

In 1983, the procession spread to Kenya, the UK, Albania and Peru. The M.U.S.E.U.M. society opened up in Poland a couple of weeks ago and will be introduced in Cuba early next year.

Mr Formosa recalls that Dun Ġorġ used to preach that their task was to deliver Jesus to the people – “the unique object of our heart”. He believes that the saint perhaps anticipated the UK movement in the sixties with the slogan ‘Bring Christ back into Christmas’, because the occasion was already becoming somewhat pagan. For some time during the 1920s, it had become customary for the M.U.S.E.U.M. society to hold the Baby Jesus procession on the 25th of every month, but this was discontinued after some time as it was becoming impractical, especially when the day coincided with Good Friday.

Yet the annual Christmas Eve procession did not die out and a national event of the sort has been held on 23 December in Valletta for 30 years. M.U.S.E.U.M. society members, parents, passers-by and tourists walk the city’s main roads from City Gate to St George’s Square and at times through Castille Place, Merchants Street and Republic Street, depending on the most accessible route at the time. A similar activity, on a much smaller scale, is also held at St Vincent de Paul Residence for the Elderly.

“Its relevance has become even more important nowadays,” Mr Formosa feels, “as the commercial element must somehow be slowed down”.

The procession serves as a reminder of the relevance of Christmas for the elderly people who remember the first processions, but even for former society members who have not missed a procession since their childhood years and others who participate in the procession while accompanying their children.

Last year, the procession went inside Castille as the Prime Minister had asked a M.U.S.E.U.M. society member to build the crib exhibited annually. A number of M.U.S.E.U.M. society members, particularly the older ones, are experts in crib making as they still prepare hundreds, from months ahead, for a crib or Baby Jesus to be given out to children every Christmas.

Some towns and villages, like Zurrieq, Zebbug and Siggiewi, Mr Formosa pointed out, have as many as 400 children attending regularly for lessons in Christian formation – each awaiting the annual token.

Moreover, all those attending the procession, including parents, are given a ticket to participate in the draw for a large crib. The work and preparation that go into the annual procession are more than what appears to the naked eye.

The adult M.U.S.E.U.M. society members also meditate on the School of Bethlehem book by St Ġorġ Preca for nine days before Christmas. The book is in fact about Baby Jesus and what could be learnt from Him. They also hold adoration sessions preparing themselves for the feast.

Mr Formosa also pointed out that the traditional midnight Mass only started in the sixties. The Baby Jesus procession was therefore a main religious Christmas Eve celebration before then.

Worthy to note is the fact that the postal authorities issued special stamp editions featuring the demonstration in 1970 – its fiftieth anniversary, and in 1981 and 1995.