Seated beneath the polychrome statue of Santa Rosalia—Palermo’s 12th-century noblewoman who renounced marriage and courtly privilege to live as a hermit on Mount Pellegrino—I prayed and reflected on the recent deaths of loved ones.
Santa Rosalia, ora pro nobis
Clutching a cross in her hand, with a skull resting at her discalced feet, the statue embodies the medieval Christian motif of memento mori. More than a grim reminder of death, the image is a visual summons to contemplation, penitence, and sacred understanding.
In the stillness of Our Lady of Grace Church in Brooklyn, Rosalia’s figure stood as both warning and comfort—a testament to the inevitability of death, and an intercessor at the liminal threshold between life and the hereafter, offering prayers, guidance, and solace to souls crossing over.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
