The Mosta Dome
The rotunda of the Church of St. Marija Assunta on the island of Malta has a fascinating history. The Mosta Dome, as it is called, is one of the largest freestanding rotundas in the world, spanning a diameter of 122 feet. It was the architectural masterpiece of Grognet de Vasse, completed in 1860. Built over a church on the same site, the older structure was used as scaffolding for the new. The high spherical vault was painted blue, with various heavenly scenes depicted to represent paradise.
In 1942 two German Luftwaffe pilots attacked the nearby Ta’ Qali airfield. One dropped a bomb that scored a direct hit on the Mosta Dome. That pilot was downed by anti-aircraft fire and died in the crash. The second pilot, Felix Sauer, witnessed the bombing of the Dome before he too was shot down. Sauer was a Catholic and lived thirty-three years with remorse, thinking he had helped destroy the unique and historic Malta church. When he returned as a tourist in 1975 he found what he first thought was a completely restored structure. Only then did he learn of the “Miracle.”
On April 9, 1942, church services were being held in the Church of St. Marija Assunta with three hundred people gathered under the great dome. An aircraft was heard overhead, and suddenly there was a crash in the ceiling as a falling bomb penetrated the dome. The bomb struck the floor of the church and skidded across it until finally coming to rest. It missed the entire congregation and failed to explode. This incident became famous in church lore as a great modern demonstration of God’s providential hand protecting his people and his church. Today a replica of the bomb can be seen there commemorating the Miracle of the Mosta Dome.215
When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord… His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.
—1 Samuel 5:34