The patron saint of Mascalucia is Saint Vitus, celebrated every year on 15 June and on the first Sunday of August in the church dedicated to him. In the 17th century the town was struck by two catastrophes: the 1669 eruption of Etna, which buried entire districts — Fallichi, Guardie, Marletti, Lombardi, Carusi and Rapisardi — under lava, forcing many inhabitants to flee to Catania, Francofonte and Militello, and the 1693 Val di Noto earthquake, which caused 53 deaths.
In 1969, on the third centenary of the eruption, a commemorative plaque was placed recalling how Mascalucia, «mindful of the protection granted by its patron Saint Vitus and by the Veil of the Virgin and Martyr Saint Agatha», was the only one of the affected districts to be spared total destruction. Part of the Mascalucia refugees from the 1669 eruption settled permanently in Catania, in an area made available by the city's Senate.
