Tag: Santa Rosalia
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Rosalia’s Silver Urn
July 15 in Palermo is a day of masses, prayers, and concerts at the Cathedral in honor of Santa Rosalia. At 7PM, down il Cassaro, the Archbishop and Mayor of Palermo will lead a solemn procession featuring the silver urn containing the sacred relics of La Santuzza. With the intention to reenact the purification of…
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Listen for The Chants During Il Festino
“Il festivo,” which takes place in Palermo on the evening of July 14 in honor of Santa Rosalia, is a big street party that unifies the city’s citizens through a procession that symbolically purifies the metropolis from the evils that have long afflicted it. The events of the party are a mix of folklore, religion,…
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September 4 and La Santuzza
Palermo’s patroness, Santa Rosalia, is recognized on September 4, the day she died in 1166, with a solemn pilgrimage to her sanctuary (pictured) at the top of Mount Pellegrino. The facade you see covers the opening to a large cave, where, in 1624, a sleeping hunter had a vision of the little-known, medieval-era saint. In…
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Santa Rosalia and Her Miracles
Santa Rosalia, pictured here in front of Palermo’s cathedral, is doing her magic, and Palermo is having a Renaissance. On Tues., April 25 at 6:30PM at the Italian American Museum in NYC, I look forward to telling you what that means. Please join us! Along with Eszter Vajda of You, Me & Sicily, I will…
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Barefoot in Palermo for La Santuzza
On September 4, 1166, Rosalia, a young woman who had sworn her life in service to Christ, died. The example she set and her protection of Sicily’s capital city is celebrated annually in Palermo with a solemn procession up Mount Pellegrino to her sanctuary. It’s a long, steep climb done by many barefoot to illustrate…
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A Solemn Procession for the City
On July 15, after a day of masses, prayers, and concerts at the Cathedral, at 7 PM from the Cathedral on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, the Archbishop and Mayor of Palermo will lead a solemn procession featuring the silver urn containing the sacred relics of Santa Rosalia. With the intention to reenact the purification of…
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Thanks to a Lost Hunter
During the late spring and summer of 1624, Palermo was under siege from a plague that cursed more than 10,000 inhabitants. Things were looking pretty bleak until in early July, when a lost hunter had a vision (as illustrated by this image, located at the saint’s sanctuary on Mount Pellegrino): Santa Rosalia appeared to him…
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W Santa Rosalia!
The activities celebrating “La Santuzza” are in full swing in Palermo. The citizens are already cheering, “Viva Palermo e viva Santa Rosalia!” in honor of Il Festino on Thursday, July 14 and Friday, July 15.
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Santa Rosalia Purifies the Evils
“Il festivo,” which takes place on the evening of July 14, is a big street party that unifies Palermo’s citizens through a procession that symbolically purifies the city from the evils that have long afflicted it. For this annual celebration, each year Palermo commissions a new statue to represent its patron saint, Santa Rosalia. Like…