Chiesa di Sant'Onofrio - Palermo

The church was built in the 18th century on the right wing of the old chapel.

Two columns with Corinthian capitals mark the entrance. Upstairs, two balustraded balconies seem downright out of place. Above the cornice is a pediment with a broken gable and two single-lancet windows used as bell cells ; a wrought iron cross closes the top.

Inside, at the end in the oldest part, is the polychrome marble altar and in the niche the simulacrum of Saint Onofrio . It was created in 1603 by a man from Palermo whose real name is unknown and known as " the blind man of Palermo" , a sculptor who is believed to have been blind from birth, and this in itself really seems like a miracle!

Of particular interest is the altarpiece behind the main altar, the work of Giuseppe Salerno, known as " the lame man of Ganci ". Executed in 1609, the work depicts Saint Onofrio as he ascends naked to heaven in his act of death, assisted by Pafnunzio and a choir of angels.

The traditional belief that attributes to Saint Onofrio the ability to help unmarried women find a husband is curious. It was enough to get down on your knees and recite the prayer to Saint Onofrio for nine consecutive days. However, it was necessary to insert a coin into a crack in the door . If the coin fell out of the slot before the nine days , the pardon would be granted, otherwise it had to wait until the following year.

Saint Onofrio is depicted with a truly unattractive iconography: a very thin old man , with dry and very dark skin and two eyes sunken into their sockets; the face framed by very long white wavy hair that blends with an equally long beard covering the naked body covered in leaves; in his outstretched hands he holds a voluminous rosary.

Willem Vandenameele