Where Will You Go On Your Honeymoon?

Two days after I was married in January of 1994, my bride and I left

our hometown of Cincinnati for New England. I was in between semesters

in my first year of graduate school. With all our belongings stuffed

into a rented powder-blue Taurus Wagon, we drove 15 hours only to be

greeted in Providence, Rhode Island by four feet of snow left behind

several days earlier by one of the decade’s fiercest blizzards.

It was 1:30 in the morning, dark, and 13 degrees when we unloaded

the bulk of our worldly possessions into our three-room, third floor

apartment. Fortunately the snow plows and sidewalk shovellers had

already finished their work. This, we joked, was our honeymoon.

And we’re still joking.

Twelve years later we have five children under the age of eleven.

We’ve finally decided to take a real honeymoon (at some time in the

indeterminate near future), although it looks as if we’ll have a bit a

company this time round.

According to a recent survey published in Modern Bride

magazine, the top five honeymoon spots for American newlyweds are

Hawaii, Florida, Aruba, Jamaica, and Bermuda. The common denominator

here is, of course, sand and surf (and, with the exception of Hawaii,

the distinct possibility of hurricanes or tropical storms from July to

November).

Although my wife Barbara and I both like the seaside in fair

weather, we wondered if we couldn’t find a more suitable destination

for ourselves and other aspiring Catholic honeymoon couples – a spot

with sand and surf, perhaps, but also a place steeped in Catholic

culture, imbued with a rich history, and populated by steeples, domes

and the ringing bells of Christendom.

With Paris burning, Venice sinking, and Rome simply too expensive,

we turned our attentions to less traditional honeymoon destinations in

the heart of Christendom.

Barbara didn’t like my initial idea of exploring the “priest hole”

houses designed and built by St. Nicholas Owen throughout the English

landscape during Elizabethan persecution. Besides, the English south

coast is a bit chilly and the beaches rather too rocky for my taste.

We did, however, take a tip from the English. One of the popular

year round holiday spots for our Anglophone cousins is the archipelago

of Malta. An old outpost of the British empire, Malta is that country

some sixty miles south of Sicily that was long home to the Knights of

St. John, the illustrious military order that defended Europe from

repeated jihad attacks of the Turks.

You’ll not likely find accommodations with circular water beds,

heart-shaped pillows and ceiling mirrors, but if you can do without the

kitsch amenities of commercialized honeymooning, there’s plenty of

Mediterranean waterfront to go around for both bride and groom. Sun and

surf abound, yes, but in Malta you can also soak up history and a good

bit a Catholic culture. In fact, unlike in Paris, Venice or Rome (the

most popular European honeymoon destinations for Americans), Malta is

home to a thriving Catholic population that still takes its faith

seriously.

The islands of Malta and Gozo boast 365 Catholic churches, the vast

majority stunningly beautiful. Many are filled each day, not with

tourists clicking photos for the memory books, but with men and women,

young and old, attending Mass, standing in confession lines, and

praying their devotions.

A good number of them, including St. John’s Co-Cathedral in the

capital city of Valletta, were commissioned by the Knights during the 16th and 17th

centuries under Italian-trained masters such as Lorenzo Gafa, which

accounts for the Baroque feel of the islands. In addition to churches,

the patrimony of the Knights of St. John also includes the walled

cities of Mdina and Victoria, Fort St. Angelo in Birgu, and Ft. St.

Elmo at the tip of Valletta as well the grand auberges, where the

Knights once resided in common life according to their native language:

Auvergne, French, Aragonian, Castillian, Italian, German, and (before

the Reformation of Henry VIII) English.

Incidentally, anyone planning to visit Malta would do well to read

about the “great siege” of the islands by the Turks in 1565. The

Knights, led by Grand Master Jean de la Valette, after which the

capital city is named, defended Malta against 40,000 Muslim corsairs

whose only objective was to slaughter Christians in the name of Islamic

jihad. By defending the islands, the Knights and the native Maltese,

are credited with stopping Islam from moving on northward to conquer

Christendom.

For those newlyweds looking to honeymoon this time of year, you’ll

be glad to know that Christmas is still very much a religious festivity

in Malta. You'll find elaborate nativity scenes, displays of cribs,

carol services and parish parades. On Christmas eve, most parishes have

a procession of Mary and Joseph figures riding on a donkey through the

village streets while children follow them singing carols.

The Baroque parish churches across the islands are just as

awe-inspiring during Advent. Their interiors are decked out in papal

crimson and altars are adorned with flowers. The facades are

illuminated with thousands of lights that spread out into the adjoining

streets. But one thing you won’t find in Malta is a white Christmas.

Even in December the winter sun is still warm and the weather

relatively dry.

On top of all this, Malta is relatively inexpensive by European and

American standards -- for the price of one night in Rome, you could

spend a week in Malta – the Maltese are very friendly people, and

everyone speaks English.

I know many of you still need to work on the “getting married” part,

but when the time comes, why not consider trading those pina coladas

and umbrella swish sticks for the Baroque landscape of (arguably) the

world’s most Catholic country?