 Cospicua’s
most colourful annual festivities start well before the month
of December, but they culminate on the 8th of
the month, when the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Patroness
of the parish, is held with all the pomp and splendour that
go with traditional Maltese parish feasts. Cospicua stands
almost alone in resisting the change, from winter to summer,
that has occurred in Malta as regards the date on which the
feasts of patron saints are solemnised, in spite of the fact
that the month of December is notorious in Malta for inclement
weather. Parish archival records attest the fact that as
far back as the seventeenth century a feast was held annually
in honour of the Virgin Mary. The people
of Cospicua adorned then the statue of the Immaculate Conception,
the one probably sculpted around the year 1680 by Suor Maria
de Domenicis as best they could, and carried it shoulder-high
in procession along Cospicua’s meandering streets. They scattered
flowers, green leaves and twigs on the cold globigerina limestone
of which the pavement slabs of their church were made. They
used to fire petards, though admittedly in a very limited
way. Music was played inside the church to accompany the
singings of First and Second Vespers and the chanting of
High Mass.
 Slowly
but surely, this annual feast of the Immaculate Conception
continued to increase in extent and splendour by the passing
of years, especially with the introduction of military
bands in the first years of the nineteenth century, and
later on with the participation of the civic bands of the
localities. In the last two hundred years, the people of
Cospicua turned their attention towards embellishing their
magnificent parish church, changing it into a truly brilliant
showpiece for their exceptional talents. They covered the
walls with crimson silk and brocade hangings; they suspended
in the main
nave and transepts sparkling chandeliers; above the main
altar, decorated with gigantic silver candlesticks of the
first and second order, they hung form the vaulting arch
a baldachin designed by Nicola Zammit; they decorated every
single altar by a silver antependium boasting the finest
and most intricate designs; they inaugurated heavily embroidered
ceremonial religious vestments – and so on and so forth,
the list of artifacts seems unending, turning the parish
church into a blazing trail of glory. Pride of place, of
course, is occupied by the silver statue of the Immaculate
Conception.
The
fortnight-long festivities, when the local Tota
Pulchra Choir takes an active part, are attended by
numerous devotees, but the climax is reached at the time
of the procession, after the religious functions inside
the church when music of the renowned composer Carlo Diacono
is played, comes to an end. Every nook and corner of the
city speaks a language of gaiety and liveliness; the squares
and streets are awhirl with an array of colourful bunting;
multi-coloured and vibrant rockets light up the normally
dark skies of Cospicua and noisy band marches help to enliven
the hearts and brighten the smiles of every Cospicuan.
This splendour comes to an end once the processional statue
of the Virgin Mary has been returned to its rightful place
in the parish church. On the morrow, since it is December,
the Cospicuans have to forgo the traditional outing, so
much to the heart of other Maltese, to Malta’s finest beaches.
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