Frenċ tal-Għarb

Francis Xavier Mercieca, more commonly known as Frenċ tal-Għarb, was born in the village of Għarb in Gozo, Malta on the 3 December 1892. He is Gozo's most famous faith healer, and an apostle of Our Lady of Ta' Pinu. His parents, Salvu Mercieca and Beneditta née Mercieca, reared a family of twelve children. Like most other families in Gozo, Mercieca's family had also a nickname; they were known as “Tas-Sajf”, literally meaning “Of Summer”.

From an early age Frenċ had to work in the fields of his family. His primary education came to a halt at the age of twelve years because, as he stated his father required his services in the fields from dusk till dawn.

In 1917, his father died at the age of 75. Some members of Frenċ's family emigrated, whilst others got married.

Frenċ was influenced by the kind-hearted and pious character of his mother Beneditta. During the years of World War I (1914–1918), she would often share her crops with other villagers, thus alleviating the problems of famine in other families.

The kind-heartedness of Frenċ's family is also shown by the fact that they accommodated in their household two priests: Rev. Can Paul Custo` and Rev. Nazju Axiak. The latter lived with the family from 1920 till his death in 1947.

Frenċ, who remained a bachelor throughout his life, was an active member of the Catholic Action movement which had a presence in his village. He had a great devotion towards the Blessed Virgin Of Ta' Pinu and towards the Holy Eucharist.

Frenċ used to take part in village theatrical productions, better known as “teatrin”. His part, very often, was that of a clown. People used to flock to the village hall to watch Frenċ.

Frenċ spent most of his life working in the fields. When he returned home, he used to find a lot of people, coming all walks of life, waiting for him. They would seek his counsel and were eager to listen to his advice and to elicit from him prayers for their needs.

Frenċ combined his old knowledge in old medicinal herbs, his prayers and his faith in Our Lady for his cures, and his reputation spread rapidly throughout the entire Maltese Islands and even abroad.

Very often he would anticipate the questions that people were going to pose to him. He even disclosed to some of his visitors incidents from their own past, especially their past wrongdoings. A reprimand and a call for repentance would normally follow. In some cases he even foretold the future.

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Wikipedia