Our Lady of Victories Parish Church
Encyclopedia
Our Lady of Victories Parish Church is the parish church
of Senglea
, Malta
. It is dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, and was most probably built by architect Vittorio Cassar in 1580 as a monument to the Christian Victory after the Great Siege of 1565
. Senglea became a parish in 1581, and was consecrated on 20 October 1743. On 21 May 1786, Pope Pius VI
declared the church to be a "collegiata insignis", while in 1921, Pope Benedict XV
honoured the church with the title of Basilica
. After the crowning of the statue of the Virgin Mary on 4 September 1921, the church became a sanctuary of the Virgin Mary. The church was destroyed by bombs in 1941, but was rebuilt and consecrated by Monsignor
Gonzi on 24 August 1956.
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of Senglea
Senglea
Senglea is a fortified city in the east of Malta, mainly in the Grand Harbour area. It is one of the Three Cities in the east of Malta, the other two being Cospicua and Vittoriosa. The city of Senglea is also called Civitas Invicta, because it managed to resist the Ottoman invasion at the Great...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. It is dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, and was most probably built by architect Vittorio Cassar in 1580 as a monument to the Christian Victory after the Great Siege of 1565
Siege of Malta (1565)
The Siege of Malta took place in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire invaded the island, then held by the Knights Hospitaller .The Knights, together with between 4-5,000 Maltese men,...
. Senglea became a parish in 1581, and was consecrated on 20 October 1743. On 21 May 1786, Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI , born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, was Pope from 1775 to 1799.-Early years:Braschi was born in Cesena...
declared the church to be a "collegiata insignis", while in 1921, Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...
honoured the church with the title of Basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
. After the crowning of the statue of the Virgin Mary on 4 September 1921, the church became a sanctuary of the Virgin Mary. The church was destroyed by bombs in 1941, but was rebuilt and consecrated by Monsignor
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
Gonzi on 24 August 1956.