The worship of Our Lady of Grace is very old and her Sanctuary was and still is a center of pilgrimages. Żabbar became a parish on 10 January 1616. The Sanctuary that is there today, built on a plan by Tumas Dingli, was started in 1641 and completed around 1696. In 1738 the facade was changed and the one that is there today went up, based on a design by Ganni Bonavia. The titular painting, the work of the Maltese painter Alessio Erardi, was made in 1715 and was crowned by Archbishop Mikiel Gonzi in 1951 and in 2001 an ornamental radiant was placed by Mons. Archbishop Joseph Mercieca.