The church was built between 1588 and 1628, designed by the Jesuit architect Alfio Vinci, later replaced by architect Natale Masucci, and entrusted to the Jesuit friars, who had been brought to the city by Lady Luisa Moncada and her son Francesco II to raise the level of local culture. The grand 18th-century portal by Ignazio Marabitti, in bright white stone and crowned with a broken pediment, leads into a Greek-cross interior, clad in inlaid marble and rich with Jesuit symbols reflecting the spirituality of the order.
At the center of the vault, restored in 1950 by Luigi Garbato, an illusionistic fresco opens up, depicting the triumph of the order soaring toward heaven, framed by faux-stucco decorations and pictorial masterpieces dedicated to Eucharistic and Marian themes that enliven the nave, transept, and chapels. Each arm houses shrines decorated with polychrome marble and works by Sicilian artists: the Chapel of Saint Ignatius is enriched by a relief by Marabitti showing the four continents at the founder’s feet. The altar opens at the center to reveal the mummified body of Saint Aurelius the Martyr, transferred to the church at the wish of Lady Luisa Moncada, surrounded by numerous relics.