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-MUSBIEĦ and hosts radio programmes about the spiritual care of the sick.
The month of May is the Month dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It has been a great and most noble custom within the Church to dedicate the entire Month of May to honour Mary, the Mother of God and Our Mother. This goes back to medieval times. To begin...
The Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, which we celebrated on May 1st, gently invited me to revisit the great Plenary Council of the Capuchin Order which was celebrated in Rome. Its title is very eloquent and actual too:The Grace of Working. As a...
On Holy Saturday, or as it is technically known in the Church’s Latin Sabbatum Sanctum, we commemorate Jesus’ death. Typically it is a day of silence and reflection. Jesus is dead and his body is laid in the tomb. But this is not the understanding...
One of the great preachers through whom God really speaks to me is the famous American preacher Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. His anointed words still touch my heart and give me God’s saving perspective in my life. Holy Week is a splendid...
On Palm Sunday we commemorate liturgically Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This event in the life of Jesus is mentioned by every evangelist, that is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Palm Sunday kicks up the Holy Week. Hence its importance is...
The liturgical feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas celebrates one of the greatest doctors the Church has ever had. Thomas is also called Doctor Eucharisticus since he has written so well on the mystery of the Eucharist. For Aquinas the sacrament of the...
Lent, which is the 40 day period of spiritual preparation for the solemnity of Easter, is an excellent time of grace. As Pope Francis told us in his Message for this year’s Lent of 2023, while our ordinary commitments compel us to remain in our...
I must say that this annual provincial retreat which I did from Monday 30 January till Friday 3 February 2023, at Il-Lunzjata, limits of Rabat, on the apostolic island of Malta, is really a great blessing. Today something really beautiful...
