We pulled into the beautiful port of Valletta on the island nation of Malta, known as the place the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked on his way to Rome. We first visited the Catacombs where the poor buried their dead. We also learned about how people went to the bathroom and what they did with the pea pods in ancient times. You can see the description in the picture below.
These catacombs were also used as shelters during WWII. The area you see in the first picture was where they held worship underground while bombs fell during the war.
The catacombs lead to Paul's grotto where it is believed Paul lived while on the island. Our team read that story from Acts 28 and said a prayer together for healing for those we know who are ill as Paul was said to not only have survived a poisonous snake bite here but healed many who were sick. The second picture is of the Grotto and then the area outside the grotto that leads to the church.
You also will see a picture of the eight-pointed Maltese star and a girl making those stars using silver from Malta. This is the symbol of the Knights of St. John who made Malta their home in the mid 1500s. The eight-pointed star represents the 8 nationalities of the Knights as well as their Creed which is the 8 Beatitudes. You will see in the next picture the cathedral they built to st. Peter and st. Paul which sits atop a Hill near Paul's Grotto.
We then made our way into Valletta and spend the afternoon here, first going to st. John's Cathedral which commemorates the beheading of John the Baptist. Caravaggio's great painting is in this Cathedral which is stunningly inlaid with 24-carat gold. You will see a few pictures from inside the cathedral along with the picture of Caravaggio's painting. There are actually eight worship spaces in the cathedral representing each of the eight nationalities of the Knights of st. John.
I then was able to go to mass at the Saint Paul Shipwrecked Cathedral and afterwards found a small hole in the wall restaurant and ate the best lasagna I've had in years. You will see a picture of the statue of Paul outside of the church as well as the front of the church which is in a small alley. I then took a picture from where I ate my email looking down one of the streets of Valletta. The narrow streets are at signature of this beautiful town.
I then had some free time and so I made my way to Fort St Elmo which is at the entrance to the bay where our ship came in and was an instrumental Fort during World War II in keeping out Mussolini's Army out of Malta which was a strategic stronghold for the British army and Allied Forces. You will see if you pictures from the fort looking out across the bay to the fort on the opposite side of the inlet.
The time in Paul's grotto was probably one of my most favorite memories of the trip. It was a very meaningful time of prayer and scripture for our entire group, to think that the Apostle Paul spent five months in this space ministering to the people of Malta until the ship could take him and the rest of their party to Rome to stand before the emperor
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