Bella Siciliano: Beautiful Sicily

The marble statue of Our Lady Audience was created by Antonello Gagini in the early 1500s. When unrelenting plague affected Sambuca in 1575, the farmers brought this statue to the infirmary and miraculously the plague subsided. On the third Sunday in May, the people of Sambuca celebrate this event and honor the healing powers of Mary.
Sicilian immigrants Tony and Sara Molle brought a replica of the statue to Kansas City’s Holy Rosary Church and the tradition of celebrating Our Lady of the Audience has endured here for over seventy years with Mass, a procession, and wonderful Italian cookies.