Irrespective of its dedication to St Mary of the Angels, this church is known as St Philip’s. This is in view of its association with the community of Maltese priests enrolled in the Congregation of the Oratory founded by St Philip Neri in Rome during the 1570s. In 1650, this Congregation acquired a portion of a nearby garden and built an oratory therein. This proved to be too small, and in 1652, Bishop Miguel Juan Balaguer Camarasa handed over the Church of St Mary of the Angels to them. Some years later, they acquired the adjoining properties, built a convent, and fused the three properties into one complex.

A New Church

The first church on site was built in 1624 on the initiative of Canon Giovanni Abela. It had a squarish plan, a ribbed barrel vault and one altar. Eventually, the Congregation rebuilt it over a span of sixty years. The rear end was enlarged via the crafting of a choir and transepts between 1737 and 1739, while the then surviving section of the 1624 construction was replaced by an aisle with two side altars on each side in 1779. The pipe organ loft was added in 1784. The church was consecrated by Bishop Vincenzo Labini on 28 September 1786.

The Façade

The façade consists of three bays. The main door is framed by pillars and a pediment. A bellcote with three bells and a dome on the same lines of the ones of St Philip in Isla and Our Lady of Liesse at the Valetta waterfront stand at roof level. This dome was formerly crowned by a lantern.

The Interior

The church has a Latin cross shape and is adorned by several paintings. These include the main altarpiece dedicated to St Mary of the Angels, the two canvases of the Birth of Jesus and to St Philip Neri in the transepts, and the paintings of St Isidore, the Lady of the Girdle, St Andrew of ​​Avellino and St Anthony of Padua in the aisle. The main altar was also adorned by a smaller painting of St Jerome by Mattia Preti.

Other Information

The day after the first World War II attacks in Malta on 11 June 1940 marks the last celebration of the holy mass in this church. The church also suffered significant damages by enemy bombing during the course of the war. These were restored between 1945 and 1947. After the war, the adjoining convent started being used as a school run by the Carmelite Nuns and as a Catechism centre. Eventually, in 1955 the greater part of the then extant convent was razed to the ground to make way for a new street and a small square.

Today, the church and the surviving portion of the convent are employed for the storage of St Lawrence Feast’s street decorations.

Milestones

1624: building of first church

1642: death of benefactor and burial within church

1652: handing over of church to the Congregation of Orators

1662: building of convent

1737-39: building of choir and transepts

1762: building of sacristy

1779: demolition of the then still standing 1624 church and construction of extant aisle

1786: consecration of church by Bishop Vincenzo Labini

1941:  infliction of damages by enemy bombing

1955: demolition of extensive section of convent to make way for new street and small square