Saint Dun Gorg Preca: Who is this Maltese saint?
Who was the Servant of God, Saint Fr George Preca (in Maltese: San Dun Gorg Preca)?
Gorg Preca was born in Valletta, Malta, on 12th February 1880. He studied at the Lyceum, the main secondary school on the island, and at the Major Seminary. While he was still a deacon he fell gravely ill and his doctor lost all hope in his recovery. However, God healed him miraculously through the intercession of St. Joseph. He was ordained on 22nd December 1906.
Before he was ordained, Dun Gorg was aware that God wanted him to teach all those who were in dire need of religious instruction. By 1906, he had already started writing a Rule, in Latin, which he had intended to submit for the approval of Pope Pius X, before setting up a society of permanent deacons who would help the Bishops in the Christian formation of their flock.
This project was shortly modified, forming a group of young men who would then be able to teach others. One particular young worker at the Malta Dockyard, Eugene Borg, to whom Dun Gorg explained the meaning of the sacred passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of St. John, eventually became the first Superior General of the Society founded by Dun Gorg.
The Society of Christian Doctrine (SDC) was formed at Hamrun, Malta, in the beginning of 1907, in a small room that lacked most facilities, but was rich in brotherly love and Christian instruction. It took as its motto the letters M.U.S.E.U.M. which stands for the Latin Magister Utinam Sequatur Evangelium Universus Mundus! which translated means: “Master, that the whole world would follow the Gospel!“
In the Maltese society of the time, to bring the Bible and theology within the grasp of the layman was something short of revolutionary. Not everyone liked this vision, including his dream of sending formed laymen and women to proclaim God’s Word to people all over the world. After 25 years, the Bishop of Malta approved the society of Dun Gorg and its Rule.
Dun Gorg wrote some 150 publications, in Maltese, including books and leaflets. His prayers reveal him as a mystic constantly seeking God. He was a confessor who was sought after for his consoling words. God used his ministry to accomplish acts of healing. His charism lives on today, and vocations to his Society are numerous. Today the SDC has centres in Malta, Sudan, Kenya, Great Britain and Albania. He died in the village of Santa Venera in Malta, on 26th July 1962.
According to the official SDC website, in a prophecy that God gave him one month before the beginning of World War I in 1914, the war was predicted. Maurice Zammit writing about the final defeat of evil in the end-times, wrote that Dun Gorg Preca said that “God will make from Malta great and wondrous deeds”. In his book, he claims that in the early sixties Dun Gorg Preca prophecied on the three days of darkness (mentioned by some other visionaries).
In 1957 Preca wrote five mysteries which he called the “Mysteries of Light” (il-Misteri tad-Dawl) which he said had been inspired by John 8:12: “The light of the world”.
Pope Benedict XVI approved the healing of an infant by Dun Gorg, resulting in his sainthood process being formally declared on 3rd June 2007 in Saint Peter’s Square, after a consistory formalised the canonisation celebration date on 23rd February 2007 at 11am. This made Preca Malta’s second saint – Saint Publius was the first. The Pope said that Preca is “a friend of Jesus”.
His mortal remains were found to be perfectly preserved in the year 2000. He was be beatified on the 9th May 2001, the second day of the Pope’s second visit to Malta. His feast day is the 9th of May.
His life and his writings are an important example for all the Church to follow. In his hometown, the capital of Malta, Valletta, there are steps bearing his name.
Click here to read about a prophecy of Mother Theresa about Dun Gorg which came true, quoted from MALTA MISSJUNARJA (MISSIONARY MALTA) magazine. God is GREAT!
