The Maltese Augustinian Province is these days, thanking the Lord on the occasion of the 50th Anninversary from the inauguration and the blessing of the Church dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, Tarxien which took place on the 18th April 1970. It is with regret that we are celebrating so many years of service and liturgical celebrations in such circumstances when all activity in the church, as in all other Churches, is suspended due to the present worldwide pandemic. In this spirit we eagerly hope to resume with the daily celebtrations and activity at the earliest possible. In the meantime, this is an occasion to commemorate so many Augustinian religious and lay people who served and celebrated their faith in this Church building.
In the early years of the 20th century, on the site of the Church and Augustinian Friary, the hard-working priest Dun Gwann Mamo started a new pastoral project by building a small Chapel and an area which served as a trade school for young men. A few days before he died, Dun Ġwann expressed his wish to pass on the institute to the Augustinian friars. In the years following the second world war the friars settled in the place serving in a small chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, a friary and another building to serve as a school.
They also opened an oratory for the purpose of gathering the young people of the whereabouts and offering them a holistic formation. The building, which originally hosted Saint Augustine College, later served as a youth hostel, until in 1983 the Augustinians decided to offer it to the Ursuline Sisters of Saint Angela Merici to be used as a Children’s Home.
In the meantime, in the sixties, a need was felt for a bigger church and on the 23rd April 1967 the foundation stone of the new building was laid by the then Prior Provincial, Fr Ugolin Gatt O.S.A.. The new Church was inaugurated and blessed on the 18th April 1970 by the Assistant General of the Augustinian Order Fr Rikkardo Quacquarelli O.S.A..
It was consecrated by Archbishop Mons. Michael Gonzi on the 10th May 1975. The Church was later rinovated in 2005 on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of saint Nicholas of Tolentino. Over the years, many Augustinian friars served in Tarxien and are still working in collaboration with a community of committed lay people in various pastoral initiatives not only in the Church itself, but also in the hall, the Oratory and the Cathecism Centre.
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