Paying Homage To Palermo’s Santa Rosalia

Palermo’s patroness, Santa Rosalia (Pictured: her likeness illustrated in Palermo’s Immaculate Conception Church), is recognized annually on September 4, the day she died in 1166, with a solemn pilgrimage to her sanctuary at the top of Mount Pellegrino. Tomorrow, pilgrims will arrive from far and wide to process up Mount Pellegrino, often barefoot or on…

Buona Madonna!

Buona Madonna! This is how my cousin Evelina in Sicily greeted me by text today. So, Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception or la Festa dell’Immacolata to you! Today’s feast recognizes that the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, was conceived without original sin — something with which, in Catholic dogma, every person is considered…

Church Immaculate Conception

December 8 is the Festa dell’Immacolata or the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which is celebrated throughout Italy. One of the most breathtaking churches in all of Sicily is the baroque church, Chiesa dell’Immacolata Concezione (The Church of the Immaculate Conception) in Palermo, where this photo of me was taken earlier this year. Above the…

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception 

December 8 is the Festa dell’Immacolata or the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which is celebrated throughout Italy. The feast recognizes that the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, was conceived without original sin — something with which, in Catholic dogma, every person is considered to have been born. Pictured is the painting “Immacolata Concezione”…