The Cottonera region is one of the places in Malta where Lent, Holy Week and Easter feel most alive. These harbour towns have carried their traditions through centuries of change. Their customs are deeply Catholic in spirit, shaped by confraternities, parish life and the strong influence of the Knights of St John, who were based in this area from the sixteenth century onward.

Lent in Cottonera begins quietly but changes the towns in ways people notice straight away. Churches take on a more serious look: purple, the colour of repentance, appears on drapes and vestments, and statues and paintings may be covered as a sign that these are more serious, reflective days. In earlier times, especially before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, this sense of mourning was even stronger inside churches. During the sombre days of Lent and Holy Week, some churches were dressed in black damask along the walls and pilasters. Paintings were veiled in purple, and even images of the crucified Christ could be covered.

Figure 1:  Bormla Church, Good Friday statues. Source: Times of Malta (Chris Sant Fournier)

Many people still fast or give something up, and the Way of the Cross remains one of the most familiar devotions, with fourteen stations that recall the key moments of Christ’s Passion. But Cottonera does not keep Lent only inside churches. It also spills into the streets, especially on Fridays, when devotions and processions make the Grand Harbour towns feel like they are moving together through the Passion story. In Birgu, one of the best-known traditions is il-Purċissjoni tal-Misteri, a Friday Lenten procession believed to date back to before the 18th century. People dressed in purple habits and veils accompany five statues showing scenes of Christ’s suffering. The route traditionally begins near the Oratory of the Holy Crucifix, passing through the main square to the waterfront, and then proceeds toward the parish church, turning familiar streets into a slow, prayerful pathway. In Senglea, parish records point to early eighteenth-century Passion tableaux on Lenten Fridays, with statues dressed in real cloth of coloured velvet and silk, all embroidered in gold thread, representing episodes from the Passion carried through the streets, sometimes accompanied by costumed participants so that the story could be ‘read’ as it moved. These processions were most likely influenced by the presence of Spanish Knights within the Order, and Maltese merchants doing business in Spain, Sicily and Italy, whilst observing their Easter traditions there. Il-Purċissjoni tal-Misteri  was discontinued in the early 19^th century but it is once again a Lenten fixture. Bormla’s Holy Week culture matured strongly after the mid-seventeenth century and drew inspiration from the devotions already established in Birgu and Senglea.

Il-Purċissjoni tal-Misteri, Birgu. Source: Silvio Pace

During Lent and Holy Week, Cottonera is also known for striking church displays. One of the most eye-catching is the Mejda tal-Appostli, the Table of the Apostles, which evokes the Last Supper through symbolic foods and, often, Biblical scenes made from coloured rice and salt. Cospicua is frequently linked with being among the first places to develop and popularise this tradition, and over time elaborate ‘Last Supper tables’ also became common in Birgu and nearby areas, with many describing the custom as around two hundred years old. Devotion is not only public either. In many streets, residents decorate ground-floor windows with draped cloth, flowers, candles and small religious statues, turning them into miniature shrines. When you walk through the Three Cities at this time, these windows make the towns feel like living churches, where home and street blend into one continuous expression of faith.

Salt paintings, Bormla. Source: Kliemustorja.com

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and reaches its high point on Easter Sunday; the dates shift each year but the pattern never changes. In Senglea, Palm Sunday begins at the Oratory of the Holy Crucifix, where palm fronds and olive branches are blessed, and then people carry their olive leaves in procession toward the basilica for a solemn Mass celebrated by the Collegiate Chapter. Those blessed leaves are often taken home and kept behind a crucifix or in a frame as a sign of blessing and protection.

Senglea’s basilica is not only a backdrop to Holy Week; it carries its own dramatic history. It is believed to have been built around 1580 to commemorate the Great Siege of 1565, was consecrated in 1743, and was granted the title of Basilica in 1921 by Pope Benedict XV. During the Second World War, Senglea’s proximity to the Dockyard made it a prime target, and in January 1941 the church was severely damaged and eventually destroyed. The present church was rebuilt in 1956, but the community’s devotion had already protected what it feared losing most: the statues of Jesus the Redeemer and Maria Bambina were removed for safety to St Helen’s Collegiate Church in Birkirkara. The Redeeemer finally returned on 9 July 1944, stopping at Christ the King in Paola for three days of prayers before reaching Senglea again.

The return of The Redeemer in 1944. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

As the week advances, one important day arrives before Good Friday: Our Lady of Sorrows, celebrated on the Friday before Good Friday, focusing on Mary’s grief. In many towns and villages across the Maltese islands, the statue of the sorrowful Virgin is followed by large numbers of people who walk barefoot in fulfilment of vows they have made, often praying quietly as the procession moves through the streets. In Birgu, a more inward mood comes with il-Purċissjoni s-Sewda, the Black Procession, traditionally held on ‘Spy’ Wednesday (the day in Holy Week that commemorates Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver) and remembered as a nineteenth-century tradition. This tradition used to take place in the 17^th and 18^th centuries and possibly stopped at the start of the 19^th century, only to be revived of late. Participants often dress in black carrying crosses, torches and dragging chains on their feet, a throw back to when liberated slaves, and converts to the religion took part, making it a restrained act of penance, less dramatic than Good Friday, but heavy with meaning.

The Black Procession. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

The statue of Our Lady of Sorrows (id-Duluri). Source: John Desira Photography

Maundy Thursday brings a different energy: the Seven Visits, is-Seba’ Viżti, loved by families and groups of friends. Late that evening people set out to visit seven churches and pray before the altars of repose. These altars are richly decorated with flowers and, very characteristically in Malta, with white seeds known as ġulbiena. The streets become a quiet stream of people, and the experience feels different depending on your age: for children it can feel like a special night journey with adults; for older people it feels like a devotion repeated year after year, linking them to parents and grandparents. For the Church itself, Maundy Thursday is also known as Holy Thursday and includes important ceremonies. Earlier in the day, at St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, the Archbishop celebrates the Chrism Mass, during which the Holy Oils used in the sacraments throughout the year are blessed. Priests from across Malta attend this Mass and renew their promises of service.

Later that evening, during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the priest performs the symbolic washing of the feet, recalling the moment when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. This gesture reminds the faithful that leadership in the Church is meant to be rooted in humility and service. Good Friday is the most solemn day in Cottonera, and the atmosphere changes sharply. Churches are stripped of their usual ornaments, no Mass is celebrated, and bells fall silent. Instead, a wooden clapper called the ċuqlajta is used, an old custom that still echoes through the towns.

After the afternoon liturgy, which includes readings from Scripture, the distribution of Holy Communion and the Adoration of the Cross, the great processions begin. Slowly, the life-sized statues representing key moments from Christ’s Passion emerge from the church doors. The statues themselves are large and heavy, often requiring six to eight men, devoted bearers, to carry them on their shoulders. Across Malta the ‘traditional set’ of Passion statues is often described as eight scenes, commonly including Christ in Gethsemane, the Flagellation, Jesus crowned with thorns, Jesus falling under the Cross, the Veronica, the Crucifixion, the Burial of Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows. Cottonera’s processions tell that story through the weight and beauty of the statues, the slow pace, and the living presence of the community walking beside them. Between statues, the pageantry unfolds.  Participants dressed as biblical figures move with dignity, and penitents add the medieval spirit that still survives as real devotion: some in white robes and hoods, some barefoot, many dragging chains tied to their ankles.

Good Friday  Procession. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

The strong tradition of honouring the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ became especially important in Malta during the early eighteenth century. During this time, religious confraternities dedicated to the Holy Crucifix played a major role in shaping the Good Friday celebrations we see today.

Although the first Good Friday procession was probably held in Birgu, followed by Senglea and then Cospicua, the first Confraternity of the Crucifix was established in Bormla in 1647.  The spacious Holy Crucifix Oratory in Bormla began to be built in 1731 (with architects including Giacomo Bianco) and was consecrated in 1783. Members of the confraternity now had a place to hold their meetings and safely store the statues and other objects used during the Good Friday procession. Many of the statues created during this period were produced by talented Maltese artists. Among the most admired are the statues of Jesus Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and The Scourging of Jesus, sculpted by the artist Pietro Paolo Zahra. Other striking statues include Jesus Falling Under the Weight of the Cross and Jesus Crowned with Thorns, created by Francesco Fabri. These sculptures remain central to the Good Friday processions and are treasured both as religious symbols and as works of art. Bormla’s Good Friday procession route ties together the town’s landmarks, typically setting out from the Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception through streets filled with spectators. Bands play slow, mournful marches, (marċ tal-Ġimgħa l-Kbira), which deepen the meditative atmosphere.

Good Friday Procession. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

Source: https://kliemustorja.com/

Good Friday Procession. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

Source: https://kliemustorja.com/

Birgu’s Redeemer. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

In Birgu, the Holy Crucifix Oratory also plays an important role in this tradition. Locally it was sometimes referred to as “Heaven” because it served as the place where the Good Friday statues were kept. The oratory was inaugurated and blessed on 29 February 1724 by the parish priest in the presence of the papal inquisitor Antonio Ruffo, while construction work was carried out by the master mason Francesco Zerafa. Today the oratory houses several important artworks, including six of the eight statues used in the Good Friday procession, as well as a neoclassical niche added in 1869 that contains the statue of the Agony in the Garden.  The procession used to go around the city, starting from the Lower Gate near Cospicua and continuing up to the area close to the Castle of St Angelo. Before returning to St Lawrence Church, the procession passed along the coastal road that today lies inside the Dockyard area. Along the way, the procession stopped near several churches: the Church of the Annunciation, St Scholastica, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. At each stop, the clergy entered the church and sang sacred hymns before the statue representing the dead body of Christ beneath a canopy of beaten silver.

The statue of the dead body of Christ, Birgu. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

Source: lifepart2andbeyond.com/  l-isla

Source: lifepart2andbeyond.com/  l-isla

One of Senglea’s deepest devotions centres on a particular statue: Jesus the Redeemer, Ir-Redentur, a life-size figure representing Christ falling under the Cross. It is venerated in the Oratory of the Holy Cross annexed to the basilica, and the statue clearly dates back at least to the early eighteenth century. When the Confraternity of the Holy Cross planned an oratory next to the church, it included from the start a special niche for the Redeemer; when the oratory was blessed and opened for service in 1727, the statue took its place immediately as a focal point of devotion. During the plague of 1813, as deaths rose across Malta, Senglea’s clergy and people made a vow: if their town were spared, they would perpetually hold annual votive processions in thanksgiving. One procession would carry the Redeemer on the third Sunday after Pentecost in June, and this tradition is still known today as the Feast of Vows. In keeping with the vow, other annual processions were also promised, including one with Saint Roque after the feast of the Assumption and another with Our Lady of Victories on 8 September. The vow became part of the town’s identity, drawing crowds to the basilica and keeping the Redeemer at the heart of Senglea’s faith.

Crowds following the Senglea Redeemer. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

Behind the scenes, a great deal of preparation is required to organise these events. Volunteers spend weeks preparing costumes, organising participants and ensuring that the statues and decorations are ready. In Cospicua, for example, most of the costumes worn by participants belong to the church itself. Organisers also coordinate statue bearers and participants so that everyone is in the correct place when the procession begins. Ushers positioned along the route help guide the procession and ensure everything runs smoothly.

Bormla’s church owned costumes. Source: Times of Malta (Chris Sant Fournier)

Even after the Good Friday procession ends, the work continues. On the following day, Holy Saturday, volunteers must quickly transform the church from a place of mourning into one ready for the celebration of Easter. Black drapes are removed, the Good Friday statues are carefully stored, and the statue of the Risen Christ is prepared for the following day. Holy Saturday night brings the Church’s Easter Vigil, and after the heaviness of Friday it feels like a turning point. As night falls, people gather in churches to witness this powerful celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The ceremony begins in darkness, symbolising the world before the resurrection. Gradually flickering candles are lit, and the church slowly fills with light until the entire building shines brightly. At the moment when the hymn Gloria is sung by the celebrant, bells ring joyfully again after days of silence. The choir and congregation join together in song, celebrating the central message of Christianity, that Christ has risen from the dead.

Holy Saturday is also a traditional day for baptisms, both for adults who have recently joined the Christian faith and for young children. Senglea preserved an old custom linked to that Gloria: before Vatican II, when Easter celebrations began very early on Saturday morning, it was once customary for Senglea youths to jump into the sea at the Marina or Il-Ponta when the bells rang, so the Gloria ‘opened’ both Easter joy and the swimming season, perfectly fitting a town that lives beside the water.

In Birgu, there was also another interesting tradition on Holy Saturday, known as Sibt il-Glorja. it was customary for the Dominican church of the Annunciation to ring the Gloria before St Lawrence, at around 8:00 or 8:30 a.m. When the Gloria rang at the Annunciation church, an olive-wood cross that hung in the convent, and which had been blessed the year before, was taken out by the Dominicans and burned in front of the church in the middle of the street. This took place before the Risen Christ arrived, and when the statue later passed over the place where the cross had been burned, it formed part of the day’s powerful symbolism.  Unlike other parishes, until the year 1936 it was customary for the statue of the Risen Christ to be taken out twice during Easter in Birgu: once on Holy Saturday and again on Easter Sunday. The statue of the Risen Christ would be retrieved from me out from the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Holy Saturday, accompanied by a joyful band march. People would even run with the statue through the streets, celebrating the Resurrection with great excitement.

Irxoxt, Bormla. Source: Salvatore Muscat

On Easter Sunday morning there would also be a procession with the Risen Christ, procession was much simpler. There was no band, only a small group with perhaps two priests and some altar servers. They would carry the statue around the parish streets and then return to the church. Afterwards, the solemn Easter Mass would be held.

L-Irxoxt, Birgu. Source: David Woolfenden

Easter weekend in Birgu was not only marked by church events but also by popular street traditions that drew families together. People set up stalls in the square for a spinning game known as the ċippitatu. This was one of the reasons many people gathered in the square: The spinner itself was made of wood. A small stall displayed figolli, and people, especially those who could not afford to make or buy their own, spun the wheel in hopes of winning one. You chose a number, and if the wheel landed on it, you won one or two figolli depending on how many times you played.

Traditional musical instruments played during Easter weekend. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

The drum being played during Easter in the 1970s. Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

Older memories also describe a lively midday scene on Holy Saturday in Birgu. At midday, a man with a drum and flute would go around the streets, and many children would run behind him shouting:

Tom tiri tom, tirlitira

              Kristu Rxoxta bil-Bandiera

              Għax tal-Birgu ġeru (ġrew) bih.

              U ta’ ………… waqgħu bih (mentioning another neighbouring town)

These were the same musicians who played the flute on Good Friday. They played again at noon on Saturday and on Sunday, giving the town a recognisable sound that helped mark the change from mourning to celebration.

Easter Sunday changes everything. Churches are dressed for celebration, and in Senglea the church is traditionally embellished with red damask and flowers while priests wear their best white vestments and the bells ring freely again. Across Cottonera, mid-morning brings the joyful procession of the Risen Christ, l-Irxoxt, full of bright music and cheering crowds. Confetti fly from balconies, and the statue, often carrying a pennant in its hand, represents the final act of the Passion story: Christ triumphant over death. Cottonera is especially famous for the ‘running’ tradition: across Birgu, Senglea and Bormla, the streets suddenly clear, people crowd the pavements, and cheers rise as groups of men carry the statue of the Risen Christ. At key moments, the bearers run with the statue, sometimes through streets, sometimes up steep inclines. As the bearers move with rhythmic energy, the crowd erupts.  It is a burst of exultation, a physical sign that sorrow has turned into joy.

Birgu is often highlighted for this, with the bearers running the statue back toward the church near the end of the procession. Senglea and Cospicua have their own “Hallelujah runs,” and the tradition is described as especially old in the Three Cities. In Bormla, Easter joy also had its own historical flavour: before the 1940s, street musicians were known for announcing the Resurrection, adding sound and movement to the good news. Senglea’s Good Friday procession was linked from its beginnings to the Confraternity of Our Lady of Charity and in 1716 to the new Confraternity of the Holy Crucifix, while the Easter Sunday procession belonged to the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, established in Senglea around 1650. Senglea’s statue of the Risen Christ is also unusual: its lower part is wood while the upper part is papier-mâché, designed so it would be light enough to carry yet strong enough to survive the jolts of running, suggesting the run was expected from early on. Yet even beloved traditions can stumble. Local tradition speaks of an incident involving the statue. It is said that the bearers either fell with it or hit a column linked to the statue of Our Lady Causae Nostrae Letitiae in the middle of Strada Vittoria. That column had been erected in 1816 to commemorate the deliverance of the town from the plague of 1813. Comparing notes from parish archives has led to the conclusion that the incident likely occurred on April 13, 1879, when Canon Francesco Colombo was archpriest.

L-Irxoxt, Isla (Senglea). Source: Kummisjoni Gimgha Kbira / Arkivju Lorenzo Zahra

L-Irxoxt Birgu. Source: https://kliemustorja.com/

L-Irxoxt, Birgu. Source: David Woolfenden

The statue of the Risen Christ displayed at the Oratory of the Holy Crucifix, Senglea, on April 22, 1962.Source: Times of Malta

Nowadays you are more likely to see Easter eggs being blessed in Senglea. Source: https://tvmnews.mt/

And then there is the Easter table. In Cottonera, as in the rest of Malta, Easter Sunday lunch is often a feast with roast lamb, baked pasta, stuffed artichokes and figolli for dessert, while the days that follow often include visiting relatives and friends, exchanging greetings and small gifts. During the wider Easter season, priests traditionally visit homes for the annual blessing, linking the public celebrations back to family life.

For anyone who wants the calendar detail, Good Friday processions in 2026 in Cottonera are expected to begin at approximately 17:30 in Bormla and 18:00 in Birgu and Senglea. But what people remember most is the rhythm: Lent’s purple quiet, the nighttime Seven Visits, the wooden ċuqlajta on the silent Friday, the sudden blaze of light at the Gloria, and then the joyful run with l-Irxoxt, confetti, music and cheers spilling through streets that have carried these traditions for centuries.

Written with reference to:

• ‘The Senglea Good Friday Procession’ by J. C. Camilleri. In: B. Hilary (ed.), The Malta Year Book 1989. Malta: De La SaIle Brothers Publications, pp. 402-407
• ‘Id-Drawwa li Jiġru bl-Irxoxt fil–Birgu’ by J. F. Porsella Flores. L-Imnara : volume 5 : issue 2 : 1995, Ghaqda Maltija tal-Folklor.
• ‘Folklor mill-Birgu’ Guido Lanfranco interviews Ġeraldu Cacciattolo. . L-Imnara : volume 5 : issue 2 : 1995, Ghaqda Maltija tal-Folklor.
• ‘The Good Friday procession of Vittoriosa’ by Zammit Gabaretta Anthony Heritage: an Encyclopedia of Maltese Culture and Civilization, 18(2), 340-345. 1979.
• ‘Holy Week and Easter in a Maltese Maritime City’ by Fabian Mangion. Accessed March 2026: https://timesofmalta.com/article/Holy-Week-and-Easter-in-a-Maltese-maritime-city.606977
• ‘Holy week in Birgu’ Kliem u Storja. Accessed March 2026. HOLY WEEK in BIRGU – kliemustorja
• ‘Feast Of Vows at the Basilica of Senglea’ by Sarah Wilson. Accessed March 2026: https://lifepart2andbeyond.com/feast-of-vows-religious-procession-at-the-basilica-of-senglea-malta/
• ‘Maltese Easter Traditions’ by Attard Baldacchino. Accessed March 2026: https://www.attardbaldacchino.com/news/maltese-easter-traditions
• ‘Good Friday Processions Malta 2026’ by Malta Info Guide. Accessed March 2026: https://www.maltainfoguide.com/good-friday-processions-malta.html
• ‘In pictures: Malta prepares for Good Friday processions’ by Daniel Ellul. Accessed March 2026: https://timesofmalta.com/article/in-pictures-malta-prepares-good-friday-processions.1108374
• ‘The Easter holiday in Malta’ by Maria Aviles. Accessed March 2026: https://amlanguage.com/the-easter-holiday-in-malta/