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ATTENZIONE
San Benedetto il Moro Sanctuary
The evocative convent complex of Santa Maria di Gesù in San Fratello is the most enchanting and characteristic Franciscan memorial of the town. After the devastating landslide of 1922, the Church and the attached rooms replaced the headquarters of the irreparably destroyed Parish of Santa Maria. Since 2007, this same site has been declared the Sanctuary of San Benedetto il Moro (1524-1589).
In reality, the entire building was completed in 1617 to honor, with the presence of the community of the Observant Friars Minor, the memory of San Fratello’s holy fellow citizen, who would be canonized only in 1807. The presence of the Franciscan Friars lasted uninterrupted until 1866.
Inside the Church, it is possible to admire a series of works of art from the ancient, destroyed site, as well as those already belonging to the Franciscans.
Among the various artworks, the statue of the Madonna del Latte in the Gagini style and that of Santa Maria di Gesù by B. Varelli (early 17th century) stand out. Two imposing wooden Crucifixes, one attributed to Fra Umile da Petralia and the other, toward which the people of San Fratello have great devotion, created by an unknown artist, dating back to the late 1500s or early 1600s, create a huge impact.
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Before reaching the central altar, there is the finely crafted wooden statue of San Benedetto from San Fratello, co-patron of the city and particularly revered. At the back of the celebratory area stands the beautiful wooden ciborium, adorned with mother-of-pearl fragments from the early 18th century. Richly inlaid, it is believed to be attributed to the final masterful sculptural work of the same Friars.
In an adjacent chapel, the 17th-century wooden effigy and its contemporary silver chest, which contains the sacred relics of the Patron Saints Alfio, Filadelfio, and Cirino, are preserved. From this place, the relics are taken for the annual celebration on May 10th, the liturgical day of their memory and the origin of the entire history of San Fratello, at least since the time of the Norman refoundation of the town.
The cloister is of particular beauty, facing west, with the entire convent building extending over it. In its lower vaults, about thirty lunette paintings were created in the first half of the 17th century by Fra Emanuele da Como. The artist created a presentation program of Franciscan sanctity, distinguished by social and canonical categories, to imprint in the Friars who would pray and live in those places and in every Christian who would visit them, the high and liberating model of imitation of Christ.
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