September 4th, St. Rosalia

St. Rosalia

St. Rosalia was  born in about 1130 as the daughter of Duke Sinibaldo, the Lord of Roses, and Quisiquina a descendant of Charlemagne the great. She grew up in a  Norman Palace. However, she completely cut her off, from the world to find happiness and her short lived life which lasted only for 30 years, was mostly in total isolation from the world.  Her abode was in the Mount Pellegrino where she died alone, in 1160 in a cave.

Rosalia was an exquisite woman, of captivating beauty, with long blonde hair and enchanting blue eyes.  The evidence of this gorgeousness can be traced back in the iconography portrayed, in the painting of Rosalia, by Anthony van Dyck . 

She became the cynosure of beauty in Palermo,  and many a noble men, wanted to marry her.  One among such noble man was, Prince Baldwin, who was a guest at the palace. He was so overwhelmed by her beauty, that he formally proposed, to marry her.

However, Rosalia was not overwhelmed by Prince Baldwin as she had already committed herself to God. In a daring act, she appeared in court, with all her long blonde hair chopped off, and said she wanted to become a nun.

First she took sanctuary in the Convent of the Basilian nuns in Palermo. That convent has been turned to a church now. Even there she could not find peace. Her parents and her suitor pestered her, and persuaded her to marry. In the end she took a desperate step. She just ran away from the convent, and found peace and happiness in a cave. Nobody knew where she was.  She died in 1160 at the young age of 30 in a cave in mount Pellegrino, living her entire life alone, with God in prayer and contemplation. 

Four three hundred years nobody heard anything about her. However, in 1625, during the pontificate of Pope Urban VIII, her body was discovered in, unique circumstances.

At that time a plague spread like wild fire in Palermo killing thousands of people every day. The authorities had quarantined the town to avoid the spread of plague to other regions.  We can see the books listing property left behind by the dead, as there were no one to inherit them, at the city archive of, Palermo.

The contemporary records speak of the vision one Vincenzo Bonelli,  had.  It was said that St. Rosalia guided him, to the cave of the mountain where he found some bones. He persuaded the Archbishop of Palermo, Cardinal Giannettion Doria, to give the bones that he had gathered from the cave, a decent Christian burial in order to stop the plague that raged the city.  After repeated pestering the Archbishop took the bones in a funeral procession and they were given a proper Christian burial. As this ritual was performed, the plague abated, this made Rosalia the patron saint of Palermo.  Later a sanctuary was built, at the sight of the cave where the bones were found.