| E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. |
| | | Rosa’lia or St. Rosalie. | | |
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A native of Palermo, who was carried by angels to an inaccessible mountain, where she lived for many years in the cleft of a rock, a part of which she wore away with her knees in her devotions. If anyone doubts it, let him know that a rock with a hole in it may still be seen, and folks less sceptical have built a chapel there, with a marble statue, to commemorate the event. | 1 |
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| “That grot where olives nod, |
| Where, darling of each heart and eye, |
| From all the youths of Sicily, |
| St. Rosalie retired to God.” | |
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Sir Walter Scott: Marmion, i. 23. |
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St. Rosalia, in Christian art, is depicted in a cave with a cross and skull, or else in the act of receiving a rosary or chaplet of roses from the Virgin. | 2 |
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