The College Church

The Church annexed to the Secondary School building was built on the occasion of the centenary of the Restoration of the Society of Jesus, and is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The colossal cement statue of the Sacred Heart was placed on top of the facade of the Church on 25th September 1915. 

The Church Restoration Project

Extensive refurbishment works on the chapel at St Aloysius were concluded in 2020. The main purpose of the works was to repair the cracks that had developed in the upper part of the church. The mortar between the roof slabs and between the stones in the upper courses of the walls was replaced with one that is softer and blends well with the colour of the stone. Apart from this, a steel reinforcement was installed right round the church and placed in the spacing between one stone course and another. 

The entire church was also cleaned using a wet scrubbing method. In a few specific cases this gentle cleaning was not sufficient and some other techniques were used as guided by our architect and an industrial chemist specialised in such matters. Such care and attention to clean the house from the inside required that we ensure that the roof is watertight and we replaced the waterproofing membrane on the church and sacristy.

The large windows that surround the church have been replaced. Although the material is PVC and the panes are now double glazed, we have managed to keep the appearance of the new windows very similar to the original ones, including the cross design and the coloured decorative glass.

The entire electrical system of the church and sacristies was installed afresh. The new system will enable us to control lighting and fans from one central point in the sacristy. It will also enable us to have different options how to light the church, ranging from bright lights for a wedding ceremony to low, atmospheric lights for an adoration. This was more complex than it seems in view that we avoided cutting new conduits in the stone whilst ensuring that the installation, once completed, achieved a high level of aesthetic design.

In the meantime, the statues and Via Sagra panels were professionally restored. The brass plates that hold the crosses that mark the chapel consecration were expertly cleaned and have now regained their shine.

The next steps included the refurbishment of the “antiporta” and wooden benches, cleaning of the external facade, the repair of the broken tiles in the sacristy, the polishing of the floor tiles and the installation of a new audio-visual system.

We do hope that you will enjoy the use of our beautiful Church.