Normally on September 4, devotees of Santa Rosalia, Palermo’s patroness, recognize their protectress with a solemn pilgrimage to her sanctuary at the top of Mount Pellegrino. They pay homage to the maiden who died on this day in 1166, with prayers, solitude, and a trek up the mountain barefoot or on their knees. This year…
Tag: santuario
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…
Fluorescent Dedication
Small homegrown shrines are very common in Sicily. This one is dedicated to the recently canonized (2002) Padre Pio (1887-1968). (Previously posted on 14 September 2013.)
Sacred with a Kitsch
Today we visited the Sanctuary of the Black Madonna of Tindari. Here, you can see there is always some kitsch… No matter how sacred, nothing is sacred!
Tindari’s Sanctuary of the Black Madonna
September 8 is the feast day in honor of the Black Madonna of Tindari. The spectacular and colorful Sanctuary, “il Santuario della Madonna del Tindari,” pictured, was built in the 20th century to accommodate the flow of pilgrims coming to see the iconic statue of the “Madonna Bruna,” which sports an inscription, “Nigra Sum Sed…