Last Supper experience in Gozo
by Pierre J. Mejlak

It is a common room for eleven months a year. But for a very special month it is transformed into the upper room where our Lord had his last supper with his apostles. For a group of young men from Nadur, Gozo, it has now become a part of their life.

The annual Cena tas-Sinjur (the Lord’s Supper) is organized every year at the Centre for Christian Doctrine (MUSEUM) in Nadur, Gozo. Hundreds of people from all over Malta visit this special room during the last week of Lent to experience the Last Supper Exhibition.

“We want people to come and experience and not just to see,” Mark Azzopardi, the group leader, told us. “This Last Supper Exhibition is a path into biblical times harmonizing imagination, culture and history. For a few minutes we try to take the visitor into another land…” And so it is!

As I entered this very special room, I felt myself being ushered way back in the first century in Jerusalem. An upper room… with arcades and arches… oriental-like carpets and curtains… moving among life-size figures standing, sitting or reclining around a table full of food and fruits so very faithful to that particular place and era. With flickering lights coming out of trimmed lamps and torches… and soft background music to help one become part and parcel of that mystical moment when Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Love.

It is not easy for the MUSEUM members to change a common classroom into a first century Jewish Cenacle. They start in earnest way back in January and up to mid-March the classroom resembles a big mixed-up jigsaw puzzle. But then, little by little, everything seems to find its place for the creation of yet another Last Supper Exhibition… so much different from last year's presentation.

It has been fourteen years since this exhibition was put up for the first time. But so many changes have been made through the years… from the very amateurish attempt of 1989 with sacks and pokes as curtains to the high standard and professional set-ups of recent years.

“The aim of our exhibition,” Mark explains, “is to enhance love and devotion to the Sacrament of Love… the Holy Eucharist. And that is the reason why we invite all visitors to enter the Cenacle with a spirit of faith rather than mere curiosity… to listen attentively to the commentary and to remember the words of Jesus uttered in that unforgettable evening… in that special upper room… in the city of cities for every Jew… "This is the greatest love a man can show… that he should lay down his life for his friends."

If you happen to be in Gozo during the Holy Week, you are cordially invited to visit this exhibition. This is the first and only Good Friday exhibition in Gozo with life size figures of Jesus and the apostles - all work created by young Nadur artist James Azzopardi.

The exhibition was inaugurated on Palm Sunday and remains open till Good Friday.

Visiting Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (1830 – 2100), Thursday (1830 – 2300), Good Friday (0930 – 1500, 1800 - 2100)

Photos by Reuben Chircop