SAINT FEAST DAY 4 SEPTEMBER: ST ROSALIA

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 4th of September

WELCOME!

ST ROSALIA, HERMITESS

St Rosalia was a hermitess; greatly venerated at Palermo and in the whole of Sicily of which she in patroness. Her feast is celebrated on September 4. A special feast of the translation of her relics is kept in Sicily July 15. 

SHE IS A PATRONESS OF SICILY

There is no account of her before Valerius Rossi (about 1590), though churches were dedicated in her honour in 1237. Her Vita which, according to the Bollandists, is compiled from local traditions, paintings, and inscriptions, says: 

DAUGHTER OF SINIBALD

She was the daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Quisquina and of Rosa, descended from the family of Charlemagne; in youthful days she left home and hid herself in a cave near Bivona and later in another of Monte Pellegrino near Palermo, in which she died and was buried. In 1624 her remains were discovered and brought to the Cathedral of Palermo. Urban VIII put her name into the Roman Martyrology.

SHE IS OFTEN REPRESENTED AS A BASILIAN NUN

Whether before her retirement she belonged to a religious community, is not known. The Basilians, in their Martyrology, claim her as a member. She is often represented as a Basilian nun with a cross in her hand. 

Information from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Rosalia may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.