Rosalia of Palermo

Rosalia of Palermo, anchoress (12th century). She was and is a popular saint in Sicily, but the sparse information about her comes from several sources. Born into a noble family in Palermo, she left home when still young to live as a hermit in a cave at San Stefano Quisquina, near Bivona, where a surviving inscription ostensibly records her choice to live in this cave ‘for the love of my Lord Jesus Christ’. After some years she moved back to Palermo to a cave on Monte Pellegrino. There she died and her body was covered by limestone deposits of stalagmites. A popular cult soon arose in Palermo: there and in southern Italy churches and chapels were dedicated to her.

In 1624 she was named principal patron of Palermo. Bones were found on Monte Pellegrino. In 1625 doctors and theologians authenticated them (in part through the devotional artefacts found with them), and they were taken to the cathedral as relics. In 1626 a church was built over her hermitage, which is still a place of pilgrimage, complete with hostel and shop. Feast: 4 September.

Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.

• AA.SS. Sept. 2, 278–414; Bibl. SS. 11, 427–33; B.L.S. ix, 35–6