Saint Peter Martyr Parish, Santa Rosalia Festival, Pittsburg, California

Santa Rosalia Festival

Home Photo Potpourri Church Service Procession Boat Blessing Preparation bottom

Procession and Blessing of the Fleet
Sunday, August 24, 2003
Last Held Sunday, August 25, 2002
2:30 PM PDT Service at the Church
(Special Custom Service without a Mass)
Procession Follows
~3:45 PM Blessing of the Boats at Pittsburg Marina
within Pittsburg Yacht Club Slips
~4:00 PM Pasta Dinner in Church Basement Follows
Saint Peter Martyr Parish
740 Black Diamond Street
Pittsburg, California

Flag of the
United States
of America
Santa Rosalia
Flag of Italy

Italian Pastries, Raffle Prizes, and Much More!
For information, phone Darlene at 510-873-5777
or Billie at 925-432-1837.
Dinner Tickets $7 Each (One Size Fits All), Take-out Available! Remaining Tickets Sold at Door. Get Yours Early!

Raffle Tickets $1 Each:
1st Prize: $250 Cash
2nd Prize: $150 Gift Certificate from Lanzafame Furniture Store
3rd Prize: Reno Peppermill, Two-Night Accommodations (Airfare not included, subject to rules and regulations listed on prize)

The Tradition of Santa Rosalia

In the 1920’s, Pittsburg (earlier named New York Landing in recognition of the local fishing industry, later Black Diamond with reference to the then emerging coal mining industry, present name adopted after the steel mill became a major industry, now USS-Posco Industries) was home to a large contingent of Italian immigrants who were fishermen by trade. They brought their beliefs and traditions with them as they fished the waters and reared their children in the new country. Devotion to Santa Rosalia was one of those traditions.

Santa Rosalia Statue
in Sanctuary of
Saint Peter Martyr Church,
Pittsburg, California, USA
Rosalia was born in the twelfth century in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Purported to be a descendant of Charlemagne, she was reared in great wealth and luxury but, in her love for God, turned to a life of prayer instead. Refusing to marry a suitor, she ran away to the hills above Palermo to live the life of a hermit in a cave.

Hundreds of years after her death, she appeared to a hunter who had become lost in that area. She showed him the cave overlooking the bay where she had died and promised to protect him and the rest of the city’s residents. In 1624, the Black Death arrived in Palermo, and the people prayed to Rosalia to save them, which she did. Declared a saint by Pope Urban VII, she became the patron saint of Palermo as well as Italians scattered around the world.

The Pittsburg Santa Rosalia Festival was an annual event. It included many nights of prayer in the church. On the last day, the people would carry her statue from the church and process down to the waterfront. Then the priest would ask her blessing and protection on the local fishermen and their boats. Throughout the procession, people would give money to be pinned to the satin streamers which decorated her statue as a thank-you for prayers answered or in supplication of a new request.
The festivals ran from the 1920’s to the late 1950’s. In 1997, Saint Peter Martyr Parish revived the festival. Today, this one-day event features a short prayer service in the church followed by a procession with the statue down to the Pittsburg Yacht Club, within the Pittsburg Marina, where the fishing and pleasure boats are blessed. The procession then returns to the church for an Italian dinner, entertainment, and raffle prizes.

Photograph Potpourri of Year 2002 Festival!

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© Saint Peter Martyr Roman Catholic Parish
Santa Rosalia Festival Committee
740 Black Diamond Street
Pittsburg CA 94565-2148 USA
Voice 925-432-4771 | 925-432-3389 Fax

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© 2002 Saint Peter Martyr Parish,
Santa Rosalia Festival Committee,
Pittsburg, California. All Rights Reserved. Updated
September 5, 2002 Web Site by
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The Tradition of Santa Rosalia