This year, 2024, marks an auspicious one, as it is the 400th Anniversary of the Festino di Santa Rosalia, an annual celebration of Palermo’s patron saint which many Italian Americans have a special devotion to due to their Sicilian ancestry. Santa Rosalia was canonized for bringing an end to the 1624 plague and enjoyed a resurgence during the COVID pandemic, where her care and blessing were sought extensively.
The annual Festino di Santa Rosalia celebrates and reenacts the first procession of her relics through the Palermo city streets in 1624 as part of her official funeral. Legend has it that Rosalia, a child born into the court of the king in 1130, ran away to live as a nun and hermit to escape a betrothed marriage. After eventually settling on Mt Pellegrino, she lived in a cave and prayed in devotion until her death at the age of 30. She was never to be seen again until, in 1624, she reappeared in a vision promising the plague’s end in exchange for a proper Christian burial. She gained international renown through famous depictions by the Dutch painter Anthony van Dyck who was sheltered in the city during the plague.
Every year in Palermo, a procession through the city and up Mt Pellegrino marks the occasion. In 2003, Columbus Parade viewers were afforded a spectacular experience with the arrival of the Carro di Santa Rosalia in New York and its magnificent procession up Fifth Avenue. Please enjoy this video clip.
At the end of August and beginning of September, Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst neighborhood hosts an 11-day street fair to celebrate Santa Rosalia’s feast with food, carnival rides, music and entertainment, a procession and mass. This year the festivities will begin in August.
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