In 1736 the Capuchin Friars started constructing a friary and a church on the road from Żabbar to Kalkara. This was completed in 1743. The church, containing six altars, was blessed and opened in the same year and consecrated by Bishop Paul Alferan in 1747. In 1752 Pope Benedict XIV presented the relics of the martyr Santa Liberata to be venerated by the friars in this church.