Saint of the Day Online - St Rosalia

Saint of the day online, Monday, September 4, 2017

Saint Name: St Rosalia
Place: Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily
Birth:1130
Death:1166 
Feast: September 4

St Rosalia (1130–1166), also called La Santuzza or "The Little Saint", and in Sicilian as "Russia", is the patron saint of Palermo in Italy, and three towns in Venezuela: El Hatillo, Zuata, and Anzoátegui.

Rosalia was born of a Norman noble family that claimed descent from Charlemagne. Devoutly religious, she retired to live as a hermit in a cave on Mount Pellegrino, where she died alone in 1166. Tradition says that she was led to the cave by two angels. On the cave wall, she wrote: "I, Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses, and Quisquina, have taken the resolution to live in this cave for the love of my Lord, Jesus Christ." The feast of Saint Rosalia is on September 4.[1] In 1624, a plague beset Palermo. During this hardship, Saint Rosalia appeared first to a sick woman, then to a hunter, to whom she indicated where her remains were to be found. She ordered him to bring her bones to Palermo and have them carried in procession through the city.

She practiced great mortifications and lived in constant communion with God. Afterward, she transferred her abode to Mount Pellegrino, about three miles from Palermo, in order to triumph entirely over the instincts of flesh and blood, in sight of her paternal home. She is said to have appeared after death and to have revealed that she spent several years in a little excavation near the grotto. She died alone, in 1160, ending her strange and wonderful life unknown to the world. Her body was discovered several centuries later, in 1625, during the pontificate of Pope Urban VIII.

The celebration, called the festival, is still held each year on July 14 and continues into the next day. It is still a major social and religious event in Palermo. In 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2001 the celebration was produced by Studio Festi.

St Rosalia feast day is 4th September.