Saint Rosalia  Saint Rosalia (1130–1166), also called La Santuzza or ""The Little Saint"", and in Sicilian as "Rusulia", is the patron saint of Palermo in Italy, and three towns in Venezuela: El Hatillo, Zuata, and Anzoátegui. She is especially important internationally as a saint invoked in times of plague (disease). Today she is being invoked by the citizens of Palermo to protect the city from Covid-19. Rosalia was born of a Norman noble family that claimed descent from Charlemagne. Devoutly religious, she retired to live as a hermit in a cave on Mount Pellegrino, where she died alone in 1166. Tradition says that she was led to the cave by two angels. On the cave wall she wrote ""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."" In 1624, a plague beset Palermo. During this hardship Saint Rosalia appeared first to a sick woman, then to a hunter, to whom she indicated where her remains were to be found. She ordered him to bring her bones to Palermo and have them carried in procession through the city. The hunter climbed the mountain and found her bones in the cave as described. He did what she had asked in the apparition. After her remains were carried around the city three times, the plague ceased. After this Saint Rosalia was venerated as the patron saint of Palermo, and a sanctuary was built in the cave where her remains were discovered. Her post-1624 iconography is dominated by the work of the Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck, who was trapped in the city during the 1624-1625 quarantine, during which time he produced five paintings of the saint, now in Madrid, Houston, London, New York and Palermo itself. In 1629 he also produced "Saint Rosalia Interceding for the City of Palermo" and "Coronation of Saint Rosalia" to assist Jesuit efforts to spread her cult beyond Sicily. The feast of Saint Rosalia is on September 4. The celebration, called the "festino", is still held each year on July 14, and continues into the next day. It is still a major social and religious event in Palermo. In 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2001 the celebration was produced by Studio Festi.