– Fr Leonard Dollentas
Immediately after the outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-CoV), the Diocese of Macau promoted the prayer to St Roch, along with precautionary measures. It was not a surprise for the faithful to turn to St Roch in times of epidemic threat. He is a well-known patron against plague and illnesses. Saint Roch is well known as “São Roque” in Portuguese and as “San Roque” in Spanish. In the Philippines, San Roque is also a renowned saint for illnesses.
A patron is considered to be a defender of a group of people or of a nation. It has been a practice for the church to promote a patron saint for almost every cause, profession or special interest. Prayers are considered more likely to be answered by asking a patron for intercession.
In Christian Art, St Roch is represented standing, raising his pilgrim’s habit on one side showing the plague-spot which is distinctly seen on his thigh and with a dog beside him.
Saint Roch is also the patron saint of dogs. His association with dogs is due to the legend that while he was in the desert he was miraculously fed every day by a dog bringing him a loaf of bread.
He was born in 1295 at Montpelier, France into a wealthy and noble family. After his parents died, he set out as a mendicant pilgrim for Rome. Reaching Italy during an epidemic of plague, he was very diligent in tending the sick in the public hospitals at Acquapendente, Cesena, Rimini, Novara, and Rome. He is said to have caused many miraculous cures by prayer and the sign of the cross and the touch of his hand. St Roch traveled for many years more in various places to offer his charity. When he eventually returned to Montpellier, he was accused of being a spy and was imprisoned until his death in 1327. When miracles were reported at his intercession after his death, a popular cult developed and he is invoked against pestilence and plague.
In the year 1414, a plague devastated the city of Constance. The citizens were reminded by a young monk who had traveled from France at the time to put down the heresy of John Huss (Father Huss denied the true presence of Jesus in Holy Communion) and his followers. The monk reminded them as well of the saint whose intercession many persons had been saved from the plague. Consequently, the council ordered an image of St Roch to be fashioned at once and be allowed in solemn procession through the city. With such devotion and trust in God, the pestilence slowly vanished. Marshall, Louise (1994) described the devotion to St Roch for the modern faithful: ”The sight of Roch scarred by the plague yet alive and healthy must have been an emotionally-charged image of a promised cure. Here was literal proof that one could survive the plague, a saint who had triumphed over the disease in his own flesh.”
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