Blessing of fishing boats

My watercolor impression of the fishing boats blessing and Mass

Every year in my home town of St Julian’s, the traditional Mass and blessing of fishing boats takes place on an evening close to the feast of the Assumption of Mary. This is done in other fishing villages, in particular Marsaxlokk, as well as other smaller fishing ports. As you can see from the photos below, taken in the 1970s, a priest celebrates Mass, usually inside a fishing boat with an altar set-up inside for the occasion, and then the blessing of the boats takes place afterwards. 

Fr Anton Xiberras celebrating the fishermen's Mass

The fishing season officially starts around the middle of August and goes into late November, when the most popular Maltese fish, the lampuka is caught in abundance. The price of a lampuka is pretty high at first, but goes down as the catch of fish is more abundant.

Fr John Galea blessing the boats at St Julian's, Malta