ABOVE: Peter Adamo for years led the procession through the streets. The chapel at the corner of Jay and Mohawk streets is dedicated in his honor.
East Utica has been a center for immigrants for nearly two centuries. Each ethnic group brings its traditions to the area.
St. Mary of Mount Carmel Church was created in this part of town by the diocese of Syracuse to serve the ballooning Italian community in 1896. Several members of the parish established various devotional societies dedicated to their patron saints from the “old country.”
One such group still is active and maintains a chapel adjacent to the Mount Carmel / Blessed Sacrament campus and frequently collaborates with parish functions — the Santa Rosalia Society.
In 1915, immigrants from Sicily, and particularly Palermo, established the first Santa Rosalia festival in East Utica. It was a simple affair and took place in a backyard on Jay Street across from the site of the present Santa Rosalia Chapel. In the following year, the festivities became more elaborate, and yearly attendance blossomed to the point that by 1920, local English-language newspapers spoke of it.
Lights were strung across Mohawk Street from Bleecker to Broad streets. The air was filled with the sound of music and the delicious odor of Italian food. People worshiped, mingled, socialized, relived memories and became acquainted with new entrants into the community.
By 1930 the event became such a staple among the Italian Americans, and for the city, that a formal organization, “La Congrega di Santa Rosalia,” was formed and incorporated. The original constitution provided benefits for members, including those for funerals (flowers, candles, and musicians at a cost not to exceed $50). Until 1981, members in good standing were allowed a $100 death benefit to the surviving family.
At its inception the organization was exclusively made up of men of Sicilian heritage. Women participated in activities but did not enjoy full membership. As time went on, individuals of non-Sicilian heritage were allowed membership, as well as women in 1940.
There were several traditional parts to each festival. The statue of the saint, which resided in a member’s home until the chapel was built (1951-53), was paraded several times through the streets of the neighborhood. The procession would stop before the homes of devotees of the saint, and young girls would recite a poem (Poesia) from their stoops or porches. The girls would then toss rose petals (harkening to the significance of the saint’s name) toward the statue proclaiming “Viva Santa Rosalia!”
The procession would then move on to the next devotee’s home until, after several such stops, it circled back to the chapel. The Red Band (established in 1905) would play the traditional “Inno di Santa Rosalia” (“Hymn of St. Rosalie”) and other familiar Italian marches and songs. There was also a Mass at Mount Carmel dedicated to the saint.
Over the last three years the group has been revived and is known as the Santa Rosalia Society. After a decade of abandonment, the traditional feast is back and the society continues its work, raising funds not only to maintain its chapel but to contribute to worthy causes within the community and supporting religious functions such as communion breakfasts and putting on the traditional St. Joseph’s Table in March.
Who is Santa Rosalia?
St. Rosalie, also known as “La Santuzza” (the Little Saint), was born of the noble Norman family who claimed descent from Charlemagne. Disenchanted with the life of her times, the devout young girl retired to live as a hermit on Mount Pellegrino, not far from Palermo. She wrote on the wall of her cave, “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 died alone in 1160.
In 1624, a plague afflicted Palermo. It is said she revealed herself to a hunter and told him where her mortal remains were. She told him to collect her remains and carry them around the city three times.
It was done as she said, and the plague ceased. She has become the patroness of Palermo and is sought after for intervention in times of plague and sickness.
On Sept. 4, a tradition of walking barefoot from Palermo to the Sanctuary of Santa Rosalia high up on Mount Pellegrino is observed in honor of Rosalia. And now, particularly after the COVID pandemic, she is revered once again in Utica as well.