Shrine of San Rosalia, at Palermo.
San Rosalia, the Saint of Palermo, in Sicily, and whose shrine is prefixed to this article, was, according to legend, the daughter of William the Good, who reigned in the year 1159. At the age of fifteen, she retired to Monte Pelegrino, in order to spend the remainder of her life in religious solitude, and a period of nearly five hundred years elapsed without her even being heard of. In 1624, a plague, which threatened to depopulate this capital, raged at Palermo. A hermit, whose name is not given in the legend, dreamt that the bones of the saint Rosalia were on the top of Mount Pelegrino, and that if they were carried in procession round the walls of the city, the plague would cease.
After prayers and supplications, he induced a number of individuals to go in procession to the top of the mountain, where the remains of Rosalia were found, it is said, in a cave. Some pretend that the body was fresh, and looked as if she had died at the age of fifteen; while others assert that there were only the bones. Then they were carried round the city walls, and the plague gradually ceased. This was accounted a miracle; and churches were built to her honor. A chapel was erected on the top of the mountain where she was found, and priests appointed to perform divine service.
To facilitate the approach to those sacred relics, the Palermitans, after immense labor, constructed a road up the face of the mountain, which is nearly perpendicular; and though dangerous, that by no means operates as a check to the devotion of hundreds who seek the protection and patronage of the saint.
The pretended bones of this saint are now annually carried about the city in a large silver box, and, according to popular belief, she has several times since her discovery saved the Sicilians from the plague. Long before the celebration of the festival, she becomes the subject of general conversation, and excites the greatest interest. Her triumphal car is made to an immense height, is built on the Marino, and, when completed, is drawn through the principal street by a number of richly dressed mules, preceded by dragoons with trumpets. On the lower part of the machine is an orchestra, and above it is a small temple, in the interior of which are figures of different saints, and on the top of all a large statue of San Rosalia. Every side of the machine is decorated with flowers, and during the ceremony, the street is crowded with people, and the windows, to all of which are balconies, are filled with ladies. At night there is a general illumination.
The amusements at this Palermo rejoicing vary each day: one night the Flora Gardens are illuminated; on another one, the streets; and in the daytime horse-races. The latter, from their peculiarities, are worthy of notice. The horses start from the bottom of the principal street, near the Porto Felice, and run to the Porto Nuovo. They have no riders, but have small bladders fixed on their backs, in which are inserted sharp spikes, serving, by the motion, to urge them on. The prizes run for are generally small, consisting of from ten to fifteen ounces in dollars fastened to a board, and the horse that wins is led in procession with the prize before him.
The illumination of the Madre Chiesa, which is the cathedral church of Palermo, excites the admiration of all travellers. It is here where the box, containing the bones of St. Rosalia, is deposited. The last ceremony is a grand procession, in which the silver box is carried by the principal citizens, who consider it a great honor. Immense crowds endeavor to get near to touch it, for they consider that this act is a remedy for all evils.
The approach of this festival produces general joy and happiness; and the people are so attached to the memory of the saint, that it is supposed that any attempt to suppress her commemoration would be attended with the most serious consequences.
ENGLISH CONUNDRUMS
Why is Mr. Roebuck a nice man?
When is a queen not a quean?
When is a breeze like a pocket handkerchief?
When is winter like a face?
When is a lion like a laundress?
Conundrums to the Queen.
