San Gerlando Festival

San Gerlando, the bishop from France

On February 25th, Porto Empedocle, a seaside town in the province of Agrigento overlooking the Strait of Sicily, pays homage to San Gerlando, its official patron saint alongside nearby Agrigento. The date coincides with the dies natalis of the saint, who died on February 25, 1100.

Gerlando was born in Besançon, in modern-day France, between 1030 and 1040 to a noble family. After his studies, he arrived in Italy and, appointed by the Norman Count Roger, was consecrated in Rome by Pope Urban II in 1088 as the first Norman-era bishop of Agrigento. He was responsible for reorganizing the diocese after the long Arab domination: he founded parishes and monasteries and promoted the Latinization of the liturgy. His relics are kept in the famous silver urn crafted in 1639 by the silversmith Michele Ricca from Palermo.

The festival in Porto Empedocle

In Porto Empedocle, the heart of the festival is the Mother Church on Via Roma, dedicated to the Most Holy Savior, San Gerlando, and the Immaculate Conception, opened for worship in 1904. Here, a solemn Eucharistic celebration is held in honor of the patron saint, accompanied by traditional gestures deeply felt by the community:

• the offering of the votive candle by the Redentore-Addolorata confraternity;
• the kissing of the saint's relic;
• the distribution of blessed bread to the faithful.

Although San Gerlando is the official patron, the most vibrant popular devotion in Porto Empedocle is for San Calogero, celebrated in summer with great participation; the February festival therefore retains a more quiet, religious tone, linked to the historical memory of the Agrigento diocese.

A devotion shared with Agrigento

San Gerlando ideally unites Porto Empedocle with the provincial capital: in Agrigento, the solemnity of February 25th is celebrated with greater pomp in the Cathedral, while in the seaside town, it takes on the character of a community feast. In recent years, special moments, such as the return of the saint's relics welcomed in Piazza Cappadona, have renewed the devotional bond between the Empedocle faithful and their first bishop.

For those visiting the province of Agrigento, the San Gerlando festival is an opportunity to discover an authentic religious tradition of Western Sicily, far from the main tourist flows and rooted in the island's Norman history.