The patroness of Santa Venerina is Saint Venera, celebrated on 26 July in the church dedicated to her. The cult of the saint, whose figure is the Latinization of Parasceve venerated by the Orthodox church, is widespread in many places in Italy; according to the «Catalogo Sanctorum» compiled between 1369 and 1372 by Pietro de' Natali, Veneranda was born in Gaul in the 2nd century and died a martyr in Rome under Emperor Antoninus Pius.
The town has a rich calendar of patronal feasts, spread across its various parishes: the feast of Saint Sebastian, co-patron, on the last Sunday of January in the mother church; that of Saint Maurus Abbot in the parish of Monacella; that of Saint Joseph in the parish of Cosentini; that of the Madonna delle Grazie, on the Sunday after 2 July, in the church of the Sacred Heart; and that of the Madonna del Carmelo, in the hamlet of Bongiardo. Santa Venerina also preserves the trichora of Santo Stefano, a rare early Christian place of worship.
