The parish of St Lazarus celebrated Saint Roch (S. Roque) last Sunday, 11 July, with a Solemn Mass and a procession. Though the official feast of the saint is on August 16, Macau celebrates it on a different day.
Fr Joao Lau Him Sang, parish priest of St Lazarus, explained to O Clarim in an interview four years back (“Powerful protection from plague” – 14 July 2017) why it is so. “Macau also had a plague in 1889, so the faithful here in Bairro de São Lázaro started the devotion towards St Roch, including the novena and the procession on the second Sunday of July.”
During the SARS pandemic in 2003, Saint Roch came again to Macau’s rescue. There was only one reported case of the deadly virus.
This time, he has also helped keep Macau virtually unscathed by the coronavirus pandemic.
St Roch was born at Montpellier in 1295. His father was governor of that city and enjoyed a special status. When he turned 20, his parents passed away, leaving him an orphan but he inherited all the wealth of his father. He did not enjoy, however, the life of luxury, but decided to set out for Rome, the Holy City.
On his pilgrimage, he stopped at Aquapendente, which was stricken by the plague, and devoted himself to the plague-stricken, curing them with the sign of the cross. And this is the reason why he was named the saint for the cure of diseases.
In the end, St Roch himself was also stricken with the plague, and went to the woods, thinking of dying without people noticing it. But surprisingly, there was a hunting dog which brought him food, and licked his wounds which began to heal. Furthermore, a spring arose out of the ground where he lay which gave him a constant supply of clean water, certainly a rarity in Rome at the time. This explains why there is a dog biting a piece of bread in every statue of St Roch.
After returning to health, he ventured back to his home in Montpellier where was accused of being a spy, and was imprisoned by his uncle who failed to recognize him. He then lived in prison for 5 years until he died in 1327, at the age of 32. People only recognized him when they discovered the red scar on his leg (some say it was on his breast).
(Photos by Ivan Leong)
PRAYER TO ST ROCH. O almighty God and Father of the poor, since You did strengthen St Roque by Your divine grace to help the sick with admirable way of curing then, grant us your mercy through the merits of St Roque, that we may be spared from all sickness and contagion through his intercession, and that we may receive the grace to be delivered from the greatest evil, which is mortal sin, so that after the trials of this life we may be worthy to be admitted into your eternal glory in heaven through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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