The funeral in Qala

11/5
Today I went to the funeral of a 53 year old man who died of a cholesterol blockage last week on the Ferry to Gozo. He left behind a wife and two children, a son and daughter. He was very active politically and was a former member of the labor party. He was also an active member of the Qala community, organizing every football related event in the town. Needless to say as he was well known, respected in the community and having died unexpectedly at such a young age, there was quite a turnout.

Here’s what I mean by “quite.” When I arrived at the square in Qala where the mourners were gathering it was about 3:15 and there were already about 20 people there. Over the course of the next half hour they came streaming in. Soon there were 50 people and I watched as the florist worked hurriedly to distribute the long stemmed bouquets from the back of his flatbed truck, looking for people among the crowd. The next count was 80 just on my side of the street and another 40 on the other side. I stopped counting at 150. The procession was a bit different from the last – only 3 priests instead of 13, and more young acolytes than before. It was a sight to be sure watching all 150 people process behind the coffin as it went first up the street and then down toward the church.

As we rounded the bend in the road to Pjazza San Giuzeppi I was moved to see that there were another 100 people standing on the steps of the church waiting for the procession to arrive. It seemed as if the entire town of Qala had turned up for the funeral. My proximity to the back of the procession meant that there was no way I was getting into the church. The place was standing room only, to the point that each of the three entryways were packed with people and over 30 individuals like myself had to hang around the front of the church with nowhere to go. I was a bit bummed but I was afforded a decent opportunity to observe the goings on of the people outside, which included the hearse driver and a number of other interesting characters. (For all of you camp friends – I swear I saw the Maltese Keith Bry there.) The mass went for well over an hour and then some people spoke as well. His daughter, son, a cousin and the Mayor of Qala all spoke and were received by rounds of applause.

People began to exit the church and as I was debating sneaking inside I was approached by Philip, my friend from Malta Post who is taking me on a cemetery tour on Saturday. He said he knew the man because he’d worked with him at the G.F.A. (Gozo Football Association) before working for Malta Post. He offered to give me a ride back to Victoria so I could go to the cemetery with the mourners rather than catching the last bus back. I was grateful as I hadn’t gone to the cemetery after the last funeral so I was eager to observe that portion of the service. We watched as the pall bearers brought out the coffin to a large round of applause. Philip said they clap out of respect. It reminded me of Festa when the men bring out the statue of the saint to rounds of applause.

The entire crowd of people from the funeral followed the hearse and coffin on the 10 minute walk to the cemetery. By the time we got there it was completely dark. I’m looking forward to going back there during daylight because there’s a great view of Comino from that part of the island. Philip was anxious to help me get a better look at everything so he was happy to sort of push us to the front of the mass of people so I could see. I guess he felt like he could because the priest is his cousin. One interesting thing is that because the coffin is closed from the time it leaves the hospital they open it just before they put it in the tomb. The coffins aren’t built with hinges here and so this meant the pall bearers had to unscrew the lid and remove it entirely. There were so many people pushing to see that the only thing I managed to catch a glimpse of was them screwing the lid back on.

They then moved to the open tomb to lower the coffin in which was about 8 feet deep with limestone walls. One of the caretakers was already inside the tomb waiting for the coffin and another helped the pallbearers to lower it. Once the coffin was inside people started throwing their flowers (sometimes full bouquets) into the tomb. Because there were so many people this meant some folks were launching their bouquets overhead from the back until the caretaker had to tell them to only throw single flowers and not the whole bouquet. The entire mass of people watched as they then used the pre-cut limestone blocks to cover the tomb, sliding each piece in place until there were only three pieces left. The caretaker then had to get out so he could seal the tomb with the last three limestone blocks. At that point a priest said some final prayers and the remaining flowers were piled up on the tomb. The family took their flowers to keep and then left with the rest following.

There were 2 buses waiting outside the chapel offering people rides back to Pjazza San Giuzeppi. Phillip said the bus drivers are men from the community and they offer up their buses free of charge for funerals. The walk wasn’t that long but many people took the bus which was admittedly a welcome relief after standing for so long. Once back in Qala, Philip was kind enough to drive me home to Victoria which was nice because the last bus had long since gone and it would’ve been about an hour and a half to 2 hours to walk. I didn’t get back until 7 p.m. I woke this morning to the sound of funeral bells...dare I say I'm on a roll?