The procession commenced in Mdina with the participation of all the dignitaries, clergy and confraternities and slowly made its way across the island towards Żejtun in the south, with other clergy, confraternities and faithful joining in along the way .
This occasion is registered every year in the Mdina cathedral documents of the seventeenth century with the comment ‘this year the usual procession of Pope St Gregory to Żejtun took place’ or simply ‘the usual votive procession.’ The cathedral records also show that a spinetta or a regaletto was carried and played through at least a part of the procession as far as the chapel of the Annunciation. Surviving anonymous St Gregory processional music from 1719 includes motets for SAT voices accompanied by 2 violins and organ (ACM, Ms 151A, Ms 579). Stringed instruments are very likely to have already been in use in earlier processions of St Gregory since these instrumentalists were in regular employment with the cathedral and their instruments were easy to carry.
Also associated with this feast, after the procession, is the folk merrymaking down by the seaside in nearby Marsaxlokk. This is where folk singing known as għana and guitar playing was always very popular.
This year the much-loved procession could not take place in its usual form owing to Covid 19 restrictions of gatherings. This is therefore the drastically-reduced procession led by the Archbishop that did take place through the empty roads, as seen in Zejtun (photos courtesy Not. J.H. Saydon 15.4.2020). A forlorn scene never witnessed within our lifetime. Litanies invoking the Saints were recited with particular reference to petitioning the Lord to save us from this present crisis.
