Experience Sicily

Tag: Feast Day

  • Celebrate Saint Joseph’s Day in New York City in March 2026

    Saint Joseph is Sicily’s Patron Saint. He’s a powerful protector, the surrogate father of Jesus, the patron of fathers, fatherhood, carpenters, and those who toil for their work, and the guardian of the hearth and home. Sicilians celebrate San Giuseppe with fervor! Join us on Sunday, March 22 in New York City at Cacio e…

  • San Sebastiano

    Although San Sebastiano lived and died in Rome, in Sicily on January 20, the early Christian martyr is celebrated with fervor in the towns of Acireale (Catania), Tortorici (Messina), and Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto (Catania). This photo of the Saint (which I’ve made to look like a painting) was taken by our Experience Sicily local…

  • She Answered Their Prayers

    A severe famine struck Siracusa and its environs in 1646, the time of Spanish domination of Sicily. For relief, the citizens prayed to their patron saint, Santa Lucia, and in May that year during a mass, a quail flew into the Cathedral squawking at the faithful. At the same moment, a messenger entered the church…

  • She was Immovable

    It was the dawn of the 4th century, and practicing Christianity in the Roman-ruled city of Siracusa was illegal. Already though, inspired by nearby Catania’s Patron Saint, Sant’Agatha, young and beautiful Lucia devoted herself to Christianity. She planned to give her dowry to the poor, yet her widowed and sick mother had already arranged Lucia…

  • A Pilgrimage for Santa Rosalia

    Palermo’s patron saint Santa Rosalia is recognized again on September 4, the day she died in 1166, with a pilgrimage to her sanctuary on Palermo’s Montepellegrino.