Paola Landmark

The Church dedicated to St. Ubaldesca

Fra Antoine De Paule became Grandmaster of the Order of St. John on the 10th of March 1623 when he was 71 years old. On the 20th July of 1626 he set up a new town which he named "PAULA" in his honour. 

De Paule  wanted to build a church in the town which he wanted to dedicate to St. Ubaldesca who was a sister in the Order of St. John. Pope Urbanus VIII issued the Bull by which he gave permission  for this church to be built. This Papal Bull was issued from the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome on 31st July 1629. An extract from this Bull reads as follows:

"we accept this request and to the afore mentioned Antonius, with the Apostolic authority granted by this Bull, we give the authority that  in the mentioned  town in a location of his preference, as long as it is comfortable and just, a church can be built in honour of the afore-mentioned Saint"

On the 12th November of 1629, the Council of the Order of St. John decided to effect what was written on the Bull.

The laying of the first foundation stone of this church was celebrated in grand style by Grand Master de Paule himself on Sunday 25th August 1630. A detailed account of what happened on that day can be found in the Liber Conciliorum    of the Order dated 1630 and numbered as 110 (page 32). In the book by E.B. Vella "The History of Hal Tarxien and Paola" we may find the following quotation from the Liber:

"On the  day of Sunday, the 25th day of the month of August 1630, which is the feast of the king Saint Ludovico, the Most Serene and the Most Revered Grand Master Fra Antoine de Paule went to the town, which for the past four years had taken the name of his family and which was established in the land of Marsa, and he was accompanied   by numerous Venerable  Gran Cruci as well as by numerous brethren from our Order and in front of  a crowd  of people  he laid the first stone of the church which was to be built for the grace of God and the Holy Virgin Ubaldesca, sister of our Religion, with the permission of the Most Reverend Prior of the church, Fra Salvatur Imbroll, who was adorned with pontifical clothes and according to the rites of the Holy Roman Church. This was done  with the apolostic authority given by the Magnificent His Holiness from Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome,  on the 31st of July 1629 and which was written in the public deed of the Notary Lorenzo Grima."

St. Ubaldesca was the first parish church built in the village of Paola. It was originally built by Grand Master De Paule and dedicated to St. Ubaldesca, a saint venerated by the Knights of St. John. The first stone of this church was laid on 1630. It was enlarged in 1900 to accommodate the ever increasing population of Paola and it became a Parish in 1910 when it was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

A new  and larger church, dedicated to Christ the King, was eventually built to replace it.

It is encouraging to see that works have been carried out to protect this building from further damage. The church still houses important paintings. The square in front of the church has been reconstructed and a wartime shelter opened for the public.

- This article and the research has been prepared by ANTHONY BOFFA (updated).