Casa Manresa in Floriana, A House of Formation. Edited by Nicholas Joseph Doublet

Description

Amid Floriana’s fortifications and within sight of Valletta’s skyline, Casa Manresa stands as more than a historical landmark—it is a living chronicle of Malta’s ecclesiastical heart. Founded as a Jesuit retreat house in the mid-eighteenth century, it later served as the diocesan seminary that shaped generations of Maltese clergy. Now the Archbishop’s Curia, this sacred space has quietly yet profoundly influenced the Church in Malta for over two and a half centuries. This volume unites a team of historians to explore Casa Manresa’s architectural splendour, artistic treasures, and enduring mission. It begins with the story of the Jesuits’ pioneering presence in Malta, progressing through the foundational vision of Fra Pier Francesco Rosignoli, the retreat house’s spiritual and architectural conception, and its evolution into the heart of clerical formation under Bishop Gaetano Pace Forno. Detailed studies delve into Favray’s cycle for its main chapel, the building’s architectural archaeology, and the British Jesuit influence in Malta following their return in the nineteenth century.

Richly illustrated and grounded in newly uncovered archival sources, the book also includes several meticulously edited and translated appendices, allowing readers access to original notarial contracts, episcopal edicts, and ad limina reports that give voice to those who shaped this institution’s legacy. Casa Manresa in Floriana.

A House of Formation is more than a book—it is a tribute to the formative power of place, memory, and faith. It invites readers to rediscover how a house of stone became a crucible of reform, vocations, religious art, and apostolate, rooted in the Jesuit tradition yet constantly reimagined for the needs of the Maltese Church.