The Discalced Carmelite Friars Arrived In Malta In 1418 And Built Their First Church And Convent In The Limits Of Rabat. Almost 60 Years After The Carmelite Reform By St. Teresa Of Avila, The Discalced Carmelites Celebrated Their First Mass In Cospicua On The Spot Where Their Church And Convent Were To Be Erected. Thus The Church Of St. Teresa In Cospicua Was Probably The First In The Christian World To Be Dedicated To The Foundress Of The Discalced Carmelites. For About 150 Years This Convent Served As An International College For Discalced Friars Who Intended To Go To The Missions, But Today It Serves As A Novitiate. The Superior Of The Italian Congregation Established This International Missionary College In Malta, Due To The Island's Strategic Position. Some 250 Students Received Their Training For The Missions Here.

Fra Lucas Garnier, A Knight Of The Order Of St. John, Painted The Main Altarpiece, Representing The Ecstasy Of St. Teresa, And The Canvas Of St. Francis On A Lateral Altar. The Altarpiece Of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel Is Probably The Work Of Mattia Preti Or Of His Bottega, Whereas Giuseppe D'Arena Painted The Presentation Of The Virgin Mary In The Temple. Other Notable Works In This Church Include Four Sculptures In Wood: A Bust Of Our Lady Of Sorrows By Mariano Gerada; The Dead Christ By Xandru Farrugia; St. Elijah By Pietro Paolo Azzopardi; And St. John Of The Cross, Attributed To The Famed Spanish Sixteenth-Century Sculptor Gregorio Fernandez.

For Centuries, The Discalced Carmelites Used To Be Buried In The Crypt Beneath The Main Presbytery. When This Custom Was Abandoned Due To A Public Ordinance Forbidding Burials Inside Churches, The Friars Bought A Number Of Vaults At The Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery In Paola, Burying 64 Friars Between 1879 And 2008. In May 2011, The Remains Of These Friars Were Transferred To The Convent Of Santa Teresa In Cospicua And Re - Buried In The Crypt Ossuary. Since Then The 160 Year Defunct Custom Of Burying Friars In The Crypt Was Restored, With The First Friar Buried In The Crypt Being Redent Azzopardi (1939 - 2009).