FR MARIO ATTARD OFM Cap was born in San Gwann on August 26 1972. After being educated in governmental primary and secondary schools as well as at the Naxxar Trade School he felt the call to enter the Franciscan Capuchin Order. After obtaining the university requirements he entered the Capuchin friary at Kalkara on October 12 1993. A year after he was ordained a priest, precisely on 4 September 2004, his superiors sent him to work with patients as a chaplain first at St. Luke's Hospital and later at Mater Dei. In 2007 Fr Mario obtained a Master's Degree in Hospital Chaplaincy from Sydney College of Divinity, University of Sydney, Australia. Currently, he is one of the six chaplains working at Mater Dei Hospital. Furthermore, he is a regular contributor in the MUMN magazine IL-MUSBIEฤฆ and hosts radio programmes about the spiritual care of the sick.
When recently one of the innumerable hand-made copies of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help came to visit us at the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre in Malta, I deeply felt the need to appreciate this singular icon a bit more than I usually do...
These days we have had the great grace of celebrating the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. As a Franciscan Capuchin brother I cannot not remember, with the utmost loving affection, St Francis of Assisiโs devotion to the Most Holy Trinity. From...
Pentecost is a meta-historical event. It transcends our world of time and space. It opens our world to eternal reality. It helps us go into the hub of reality: the Holy Spiritโs presence in the Church. In this sense, the icon of the Pentecost is a...
Icons have always fascinated me. The more I look at them the more they speak to me. The more I fix my gaze upon them the more they tell me not just about themselves but openly reveal to me my life journey towards the Lord Jesus Christ. As I searched...
We are living in a world where many are becoming indifferent to God. Countless are the numbers of those who live as if God does not exist. And what is the fruit, if any, of such a poor life? Just tell these people to tell you what they really...
St Josephโs feast day of 2021 was really an unforgettable experience for me. This was the first feast day which I celebrated as a chaplain at Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre in Malta with our patients and their loved ones who are battling the...
The Easter Triduum, which starts from Holy Thursday up to Easter Sunday, is really a splendid opportunity for all of us to appreciate Jesusโ infinite love for all of us. The Diary of St Faustina greatly helps us to appreciate and let this love...
Lent is a journey of continual renewal into the paschal mystery of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this special time of the year it is important that we do not go about it alone but walk this journey in the company of others...
