Malta or the isle of sun, sea and.. Prayer

I've been in Malta for the last ten days or so and have to say that its one of the most peaceful, beautiful and welcoming places I've ever been to. But I didn't come on here to make all of you Jealous rather I came on here to make a response of sorts to a blog post my Maltese friend showed me. The Blog Post in question is called 'A surprisingly Boozy Easter on a Devoutly Catholic Island' and can be found here

The Blog describes easter celebrations on the Island from the point of view of a tourist but sadly it seems to lean heavily to the idea that all the Maltese do on the island is get drunk and run around crazily. The article is somewhat critical of this stating that 'Malta isn't the monastery of the Mediterranean', then relating a historical incident of a riot when Prostitutes were banned by the Knights of the order of St John. What exactly the author is trying to prove by writing this is anyones guess, perhaps that Catholics don't always measure up to God's standards? Now that's hardly a revelation even to Catholics...

Throughout the author makes no attempt to be objective whatsoever but rather solely relates the drunken shennigans he encounters, needless to say this offended my Maltese friend more than a little. Having been in the country for some ten days I can say that for every drunken person and shennigan there is a chapel of 24/7 eucharistic adoration, for every pint of beer drunk there is a chapel of the blessed sacrament in almost all the churches, for every drunk Maltese teenager there is a SOBER Maltese person praying or handing out leaflets about the Patron Feast of a particular village.

In short your stay in Malta will be what you want to make of it, if you seek out Drunks then thats what you will find but you don't need to look very hard to find true devotion and outstanding piety. I was particularly touched when my friends Great Aunt gave me a replacement scapular as mine was somewhat worn out and after finding out that I wanted to be a priest offered to pray for me until I was ordained and then say a particular big prayer. Now that is true Maltese hospitality!