Paul Pace of Birkirkara begins the busiest time of the year, giving the last touches to his exhibition now a Museum of various Statues of Baby Jesus. His life passion of collecting these statues gives him the greatest pleasure and satisfaction to present them to the general public, Maltese and tourist alike. The number of these statues are now around 1,500 are made of various materials such as wax
, paper-mache’, wood, clay, lead, resin, chalk, and even porcelain, stone and pottery. Some present the Baby Jesus in his sleep, others just lying down, while others in a sitting position sometimes with open arms, folded arm or in other instances seen blessing the world. Various people have visited this Exhibition in the last few years. They included people from all walks of life; children were delighted and as grown- ups wondered at the patience of Mr. Paul Pace and his family in putting together the various items of such a unique collection. Foreigners have shown their appreciation in all ways, being rather surprised by what they saw before them in such a little space. But without a doubt the most illustrious visitor to the Exhibition was His Eminence Cardinal Francis Arinze, Head of the Pontifical Council of Interreligious Dialogue who was on a private visit in Malta in 1996. He not only congratulated the Pace family for their dedication, but also gave them a special Blessing and signed the visitor’s book. It was certainly a red letter day for them. Another appreciation favour Mr. Paul Pace was when The Malta Philatelic Society in 2004 approached him to choose three statues of Baby Jesus from his collection to be represented on the Maltese local stamps as part of a set of four. However, Mr. Paul Pace insists that he is most happy when he welcomes all kind of people to be able to instil in them the peace and serenity that the Child Jesus, as God made man can only give. The Museum will be inaugurated on the 6th December 2010 and the exhibition will be open for the Christmas period on the following dates. It is being held at 17, St Theresa Street, Birkirkara (just opposite the Sanctuary of St. Theresa) from the 12th December 2010 to 2nd January 2011, being open all days of the week. Opening hours are: Monday to Saturday 4.30pm to 8.00pm whilst on Sundays and public holidays, from 9.00 am to 12.00 and from 4.30pm to 8.00pm. Group or tour organisers are kindly asked to contact Mr. Paul Pace on 79492111 / +356 79833956 or by e-mail on [email protected] so make special arrangements for their visit in order not to be disappointed. His hope and wish is that all visitors would draw energy in their faith from these artistic expressions of various people during the last centuries.
