Chiesa San Stanislao Kostka - Palermo

The church was built in 1607 as a chapel of the monastery of the novitiate of the Jesuits. Later it was enlarged and equipped with chapels.

After the expulsion and suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1767, the structures of the novitiate were used as a Bourbon military quarter. With the reestablishment of the Society on July 30, 1814 by order of Pope Pius VII, the religious returned but owned only the church . During the Palermitan uprisings in 1848, the novitiate military quarter was destroyed.

The 18th century facade is characterized by four pilasters and consists carved stones feature busts of Jesuit saints in rich rococo moldings that delineate a large central window. Above the portal is the supported medallion of angels depicting Saint Stanislaus Kostka.

The interior consists of one nave and has a beautiful decoration carried out in the second half of the 18th century. It is rich in stucco and mixed marble . Also inside you can admire a statue of Saint Stanislaus, a Jesuit of Polish nationality. The marble statue shows the reclining body of the saint. On the wall hangs the canvas with the image of the Virgin and San Stanislao.

The Church of San Stanislao Kostka, is also known as the Shrine of the Madonna del Lume because of the apparitions to a visionary from Palermo in 1722. Inside is the miraculous painting painted after the apparition of Mary to the woman, a small oval image , painted by an unknown person, believed to be miraculous .

Willem Vandenameele