[gusopol3]

according to tradition

Who cares about tradition, this is according to scripture ( except the date, I guess).

[trisham]

It sounds like a lovely trip.

[afraidfortherepublic]

About 40 years ago we had a priest lent to our parish in Oakland, CA from the nation of Malta. As he explained to me, there were (at that time) too many priests in Malta so many of them went to other nations to serve. They returned to Malta as openings arose.

I can’t remember his name, but he was a kind and gentle man and he played the violin beautifully. This was just at the time that the Vatican II changes were being implemented and the Mass was first said in English. He wrote a beautiful Gloria and gave it to our Parish (St. Leo’s) to sing, copyright free.

[Verginius Rufus]

According to Acts, they were sailing in the Adriatic before the shipwreck (27.27) and there were snakes on the island (28.3-5). St. Luke calls the island "Melite." There were two islands called by that name in ancient times, Malta and the island now called Mljet near Dubrovnik. Mljet is in the Adriatic and has snakes. Malta has no snakes and is not in the Adriatic.

St. Luke refers to the natives of the island as "barbarians" (barbaroi). If the island was Malta, they may have been speaking the Punic language, which was similar to Hebrew--would people St. Paul could have conversed with been called "barbarians"?

I don't think this counts as an infallible pronouncement that the Melite of St. Paul's shipwreck was Malta.