The Legend of St. Paul the Hermit

Task 1:

Read some information about the chapel of St. Paul the Hermit in Mosta.

• This chapel is in 'Wied il-Ghasel', (the Valley of Honey) in Mosta.
• It is in a big cave in the side of the valley.
• At the back of the cave there is a smaller cave.
• In this second cave there is a fresh water stream that  flows very slowly into three natural rock basins, one below the other. 
• From here the water then flows into the valley.
• In the 14th century, there was only an altar and a painting of Our Lady in the cave.
• In the 15th century a chapel was built but it was destroyed and rebuilt many times over the years.
• Today a group of volunteers from Mosta, look after the chapel.
• The chapel is opened at least twice a year for worship - on the first Sunday after the 15th January to celebrate the feast of St. Paul the Hermit and in September for the feast of Our Lady of Graces.

Task 3:

Watch the video in the green button to see how you can get to the chapel.

Answer the questions at the end of the video.

Task 4:

Read about the legend.

A holy man, called Korrado, lived in this cave.

He was a hermit because he lived alone and spent most of his time praying.

In his opinion the people who came near his cave were living a very bad life.

He often told them to change their lifestyle but they only made fun of him.

One day they started throwing stones at him.

He started to run along the valley until he arrived at the seaside.

As he stood by the water, he took off his cloak, put it on the water, stepped on it.

He travelled to Gozo on his cloak.

When they saw him walking on water the people of Mosta were filled with fear.

They started calling for him to return to them, promising him they will change their life.

But he did not turn back. 

In Gozo he went to live next to the church of the Conception in the village of Qala.

He died some years later and was buried near the church.

Many people used to visit his grave to show their respect.

The people of Mosta built a church inside the cave where he used to live.

Many people believed that water flowed inside the cave because of the hermit's miraculous powers.

The chapel was named after the first St. Paul the Hermit, who lived in Egypt and also spent most of his life in a cave.

Some people believe that the hermit of Wied il-Ghasel was a hermit from Sicily, called Corrado di Noto.

Adapted from: A Hundred Wayside Chapels of Malta and Gozo, Kilin; Heritage books, 2000

Task 5:

Select the Questions green button below and complete the interactive task.

Task 6:

Select the Sequencing green button below and complete the questions and answers.