The Malta Independent on Sunday
‘The spirit of place’ at Mysterium Fidei Monastery in Valletta
Idiscovered the existence of Mysterium Fidei Monastery on Facebook. It looked like a fertile garden in the heart of Valletta and I was intrigued. So last Monday morning one of my sisters and myself set out for St Christopher street to discover what seemed to be an unusual destination.
Yes, although officially old but we are still curious.
Once in this underground complex consisting of the garden and underground rooms which used to house the female orphans, we were greeted by Mila at reception. She has been living in Malta for some 25 years. We could download an App on our phones and be guided through this part of this huge monastery which, after 400 years of existence, had been open to the public only this February as part of the Hidden Valletta project.
There was plainchant in the background to add to the ambience on this beautiful, sunny day. It is a CD playing as there are only three nuns left. As a family we are familiar with plainchant having been brought up by nuns who sang it in our school chapel and we love it and miss it.
So, here’s a little history. The original and much smaller building was known as Casa Vanilla and was the residence of Marquis Giovanni Vasco Oliviero and his wife Katarina, who was a devotee of St Katherine. This order of Augustinian nuns was founded in 1575, nine years after the founding of Valletta. The Marquis and his wife had offered their palace so that the orphans the nuns looked after, could get a decent upbringing. They did this out of gratitude for having their son spared from the deadly plague which occurred between December 1675 and August 1676, and resulted in approximately 11,300 deaths, making it the deadliest epidemic in Maltese history.
Neighbouring properties were subsequently bought to accommodate around 45 nuns, 15 girls and a chapel. This is why today, this monastery stretches out into Republic Street, St Christopher Street, Strait Street and a section of St Dominic Street. When the couple and their son died the property was inherited by the nuns.
The garden was a quarry from which the stone for the monastery was extracted. Although it doesn’t enjoy much sun however it is verdant and attractive. There are some cats enjoying the tranquility and peace and, as Richard England would say: ‘the Spirit of Place’.
We were soon joined by the knowledgeable and enthusiastic Albert Dimech whose father was sacristan and who was brought up in this area of Valletta. Like Mila, he seems to be totally dedicated to making this project a success. He has nothing but praise for the nuns who, although cloistered and now just three left, contribute in several ways to the community as they have done over so many years. People still ask them for prayers and advice. If they can’t give the advice sought they pass them on to someone who can. They also help the poor with food. These holy women have been networking for some 400 years. Omnia ad Deum – everything for God, a cloistered promise that was never broken. The only exception was when the nuns had to be evacuated in 1941, during World War II, when the monastery received a direct hit.
Throughout this experience, you will be immersing yourself in the nuns’ way of life, past and present. A life centered around work and prayer, in touch with nature; a community that lives sustainably. Here so many nuns worked, cooked, washed, were of support to the community, and died and are buried within the convent.
I slowly went from one room to the next taking in as much as possible using my imagination and wondering how anyone can have such faith as to choose to lock themselves away from the world, often from their teenage years, in order to serve God, a God they had never seen. Mysterium Fidei. Indeed, the mystery of faith.
Was it my imagination or was there really some baking going on… and that lovely smell of mulled wine pervading the air, what was it? I soon discovered the kitchens. In one room there are three ovens, one of them still in working order and lit up. Next to it another room and a big biscuit jar on an ancient table but only a small fragment left. Yes, the nuns do bake biscuits but the last lot had been offered to visitors. Ah! And there was the sort of mulled wine mixture slowly cooking on a paraffin stove, filling the air with its perfume. So I wasn’t imagining.
Beyond the kitchens and to other rooms. Here Mr Dimech who describes himself as a volunteer, but I happen to know is much more than that, explained to us how the provision of water had been meticulously planned and organised all those years ago.
Rather than making use of the water stored underground, a reservoir was built behind these walls to store rainwater. This system allowed the nuns to access water easily, without having to carry and transport it. A hand pump was used to pump the water into the baths where clothes, textiles and carpets were washed.
This rainwater storage is also connected to the main well, so that any excess rainwater can be stored there. It is still used today. Ingenious.
There are zinc baths and wash hand basins in some of the huge rooms. These and other items including wardrobes, were brought by new recruits to the convent as dowry from their family. On some of these wardrobes one can still see the initials of the nun who brought it.
Other rooms round the garden were used for different purposes. Among them was a room to ‘control’ young women who were considered a threat to the morality of the time. In many cases it was the girl’s family who would forcibly bring her to this monastery. These rooms bear silent witness to the stories of many young women who were dragged to this monastery, kicking and screaming in desperation. Once inside the nuns used to care for them and help them review their behaviour.
One of the most illustrious women to ever enter this monastery in such a way was Grand Master Manuel Pinto de Fonseca’s niece. Pinto, a Portuguese nobleman, was Grand Master for more than 30 years in the 18th century. It seems the nuns’ work with this niece was so successful that she herself became a nun. She ended her days here and is buried within the walls of this monastery.
An English couple I met in the last room told me that they had spent a month in Italy and were only staying in Malta for just three days, to their disappointment, as they had no idea that there was so much to see on these islands.
When I told a male Facebook ‘friend’ I had never met where I had been visiting, he told me that his great uncle had been confessor, provider and the celebrant of Mass for these very nuns before the last World War. Patri Giovanni Genovese was the Provincial of the Augustinian Order twice and apparently was very much loved by the nuns. ‘My mother whose uncle he was remembered going many times with her mother to visit the nunnery and convents of the Order. Never to the inner sanctums of course as strangers were not permitted to enter. I still have a photo of some of the Ganutel work the nuns produced. One of them was presented to my great uncle, Patri Giovanni Genovese as a token of their gratitude.”
My sister and myself, spent over an hour in this tranquil, unusual and lovely crypt and garden which is totally unspoilt by time. It is thought provoking and takes you back to hundreds of years of life and history. It is moving to think that so many women have passed through this place and the lives they lead and the many lives touched by dozens of nuns over the years.
There is much more to write about. The burial place full of stories, should have an article dedicated to it. But this will have to do in this limited space. I would urge you to go and visit the Mysterium Fidei Monastery. There is something very different about it. It is so consoling to think that there are still good people in this world who simply live for the glory of a God they have never seen but know exists.
Let me quote Emily Dickinson: “In this short life that only lasts an hour – how much, how little is within our power?” We have to learn to live with questions. As a friend tells me: “There must be something. All these people giving their life to God aren’t just escaping or plain naïve.” How could I not agree?