Giuseppe “Pino” Puglisi was killed in Palermo on September 15, 1993, his 56th birthday. A courageous defender of the poor in the Sicilian capital’s inner city neighborhood of Brancaccio, Blessed Father Puglisi worked tirelessly to convince young people that there was a better life than organized crime. He was extremely outspoken about the Mafia and…
Tag: shrine
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.
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Festa dell’Immacolata or the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated throughout Italy on December 8. The day 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. In Sicily, on December 7th and 8th, there are many…
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.)
Celebrating What Once Was and What Now Is
When immigrants from Tindari and Patti, Sicily came to New York at the turn of the 20th century, they brought with them the tradition of celebrating the Black Madonna or “Madonna Bruna.” Although East 13th Street has changed significantly in the last 50 years and Sicilians en masse no longer live in the East Village,…
At the Shrine of Santa Rosalia
My cousin Mario, my grandmother, my father, and my cousin Pino in 1950 at the Shrine to Santa Rosalia on Monte Pellegrino in Palermo.
Body Parts
Ex-votos, such as these in the shape of body parts, decorate the entrance of the shrine of Santa Rosalia at the top of Mount Pellegrino. They were given to the saint as gratitude for healing received—in this case, for ailments of the lungs, internal organs, breasts, and back. Ex-votos are very common in Sicily. #palermo…
Homegrown painting above a wall shrine for Maria ss. del Lume in Porticello. #sicily #sicily_travel #sicilia #sicily_tourism #italy #ig_sicily #italia #siciliaph #siciliafoto #igerssicilia #instasicilia #porticello #painting #shrine #fishermen #pescatori #santaflavia #boat #barca #mariassdellume
Maria ss. del Lume on Capo Zafferano
Seaside cliff shrine to Maria ss. del Lume on Capo Zafferano. The two week-long annual feast in Porticello ended yesterday. #sicily #sicily_travel #sicilia #sicily_tourism #italy #ig_sicily #italia #siciliaph #siciliafoto #porticello #mariassdellume #shrine #capellina #santaflavia #capozafferano