Today, I went to St. Paul's Bay where St. Paul traditionally was shipwrecked and came onto the island of Malta as reported in Acts. Here is a snippet from this website below. I went to the small church seen in the photo, which is supposedly the site of the bonfire where the snake bit St. Paul, but it was locked up. The same was true for the larger church. Sadly, that church was locked at well.
I said a prayer on the porch.
http://www.visitmalta.com/en/st-paul-in-malta
The welcome given to the survivors is described in the Acts of the Apostles (XXVIII) by St. Luke:
"And later we learned that the island was called Malta.
And the people who lived there showed us great kindness,
and they made a fire and called us all to warm ourselves... "
And the people who lived there showed us great kindness,
and they made a fire and called us all to warm ourselves... "
As the fire was lit, Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake but he suffered no ill effects. The islanders took this as a sign that he was a special man. This scene is depicted in many religious works of art on the Islands.
According to tradition, the Apostle took refuge in a cave, now known as St. Paul's Grotto in Rabat, Malta.
During his winter stay, he was invited to the house of Publius, the Romans' chief man on the Islands. It was here, according to tradition, that Paul cured Publius' father of a serious fever. Publius is then said to have converted to Christianity and was made the first Bishop of Malta. The Cathedral of Mdina is said to stand on the site of Publius' house.
