SANTA ROSALIA, PREGA PER NOI

One of the patron saints in our parish grouping is also one the saints invoked by the  Church in times of pestilence and plague.  How appropriate it is that we in the Greenfield-Hazelwood-Oakland grouping have Saint Rosalia offering us her protection and care. In 1624, a plague beset Palermo in Sicily and everyone was quarantined to their homes, with many falling ill and some dying.  During this great 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. 
The hunter climbed the mountain and found her bones in the cave just as she had described. He did what she had asked in the apparition. After her remains were carried around the city three times, the plague ceased and health restored to the people of Palermo. After this Saint Rosalia was venerated as the patron saint of Palermo, and a sanctuary was built in the cave where her remains were discovered, known as the Santuario di Santa Rosalia.  I know that some people from Saint Rosalia have visited that site, as I have myself when I was a seminary student at the North American College. Little did I know then that I would become pastor of a parish dedicated to her name and a parish grouping that will continue to honor her as one of our special patrons.
Interestingly, the Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck, was trapped in the city during the 1624-1625 quarantine.  He produced during that time fiive paintings of the saint, now located in Madrid, Houston, London, New York and Palermo itself. In 1629 he also produced two others: Saint Rosalia Interceding for the City of Palermo and Coronation of Saint Rosalia to assist Jesuit efforts to spread her cult beyond Sicily.

Saint Rosalia, was a descendant of the great Charlemagne. She was born in Palermo, Sicily. In her youth, her heart turned from earthly vanities to God. She left her home and took up her abode in a cave, on the walls of which she wrote these words: "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." She remained there entirely hidden from the world.
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 died alone, in 1160, ending her strange and wonderful life unknown to the world. Her body was discovered after her appearance during the plague in Palermo in 1624.   Her feast day is September 4th.
During these troubling and anxious times as we face the coronavirus pandemic, let us appeal to Saint Rosalia in a special way in our prayers, that she might protect us from harm and free us from the scourge of this pandemic and bring healing, peace and strength. Santa Rosalia, prega per noi!  Saint Rosalia, pray for us!



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