A horrible tragedy was narrowly avoided yesterday when the ceiling of one of the country’s oldest churches collapsed in the middle of the night, just hours before people were due to congregate for the first mass of the day.

While the cost of the damage sustained by the ceiling as well as by the altar below will undoubtedly run into the region of hundreds of thousands of euros, the potential loss of human life would have been immeasurable in monetary terms.

And while the cause of the collapse within the 500-year-old church is still to be precisely determined, and although restoration work had recently been carried out, there is little doubt that the structure’s sheer age played a central role in the narrowly-avoided catastrophe.

Yesterday’s episode sheds light on the often tenuous structural stability of many of the country’s centuries-old structures, buildings that form an integral part of the country’s character.  Many, in fact, are the buildings that date back at least as far as Rabat’s ta’ Ġieżu church.  Such structures range from churches to public buildings to the homes we live in.

And yesterday’s incident sheds light on just how important it is that the structural integrity of such buildings are regularly checked and that, when problems are found, remedial action is taken promptly and professionally.

Another such case is that of St Paul’s Anglican Pro-Cathedral in Valletta.  Structural investigations at the Valletta landmark have shown it to be in dire need of restoration – so much so that the recent expert architectural inspections have identified severe problems threatening the tower, the spire and the external and internal stonework. Parts of the structure are now officially described as unstable.

Following a report by the cathedral’s architect, a multitude of problems have been identified. These include the urgent need for external restoration work, tower and spire and boundary wall restoration work, the replacement of the ceiling and other internal works as well as the wrought iron railings.

Restoration works are estimated to cost some €3 million and an appeal fund has been launched.

That cathedral is less than 200 years old and had pre-emptive measures not been taken in the form of architectural investigations, a similar tragedy may have been laying in store there too.

As for yesterday’s collapse, much of the country came together in solidarity, with the government and a leading bank having pledged support, while and emergency fund has also been set up to help fund repair work.

But apart from having provided a shining example of the solidarity that this country is particularly known for, this episode has provided a lesson in the wisdom of pre-emptive measures.

It is, after all, of the utmost importance that the owners or caretakers of the country’s older structures take pre-emptive action, such as in the case of St Paul’s and in the process avert what will otherwise be an inevitable collapse, perhaps with consequences more tragic than yesterday’s   near miss.

Nothing, after all, lasts forever and it is only a matter of time before age takes its toll.