Street shrines and statues : our Lady of the refugees

Abstract

At the foot of Gelmus Hill on the outskirts of Rabat in Gozo there is a statue of St Joseph overlooking the beginning of the street which leads to Ta' Pinu Sanctuary. Beneath it, incased within the rubble wall which serves as a pedestal, is an effigy of a Madonna carved in high relief. To the ordinary visitor the image may look just another sacred effigy. However, to the Gozitan pilgrim who frequently plods his way to Ta' Pinu Sanctary it is the symbol of the faith and the trust which the Maltese refugees in Gozo during World War II had in the Virgin Mary.