According to tradition, the church now dedicated to St. Ann in Jerusalem was since the 6th century dedicated to Our Lady. It is said that this ancient church in Jerusalem stands where the house of Joachim and Ann, parents of Mary, stood and from this tradition, the devotion to the nativity of Mary grew.
In Malta this feast – known as il-Bambina – is a very important one mostly because it co-incides with the Great Siege victory over the Ottomans. In fact, in Maltese the 8th September feast is also referred to as “il-Vitorja.”
The first church in Xaghra was not dedicated to Our Lady but was a 13th century church dedicated to one of our desert fathers, St. Anthony the Abbot. When the village was elevated to a parish in the 17th century, the church of St. Anthony the Abbot served as the first parish church. Construction on a new church (preceding the present one) began in the early 17th century on land donated by Grandmaster Gregorio Caraffa when Davide Rocco Palmieri was Bishop of Malta and Gozo. Building on the present church a century later, in 1815 and the current church was consecrated in 1855, the dome being added some 40 years later. At the turn of the 20th century the church became a Colleggiate Church and in 1967 a Basilica.
Although the parish was originally dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Grace, it was re-dedicated to the Nativity of Mary in 1692. There is historical connection between this church and the parish church of Senglea, Malta, also dedicated to il-Bambina (or Vitorja), because the altarpiece was brought from the Senglea church and fitted on the Xaghra altar in the mid-18th century.
The walk continues from Xaghra descending to the church of Our Lady of Divine Grace (Capuchin church and convent), in Rabat.