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Archiver > AZORES > 1999-09 > 0936845107


From: Martin Verhaegh <>
Subject: [AZORES-L] origin of names, St Roch
Date: Wed, 08 Sep 1999 22:45:07 -0400


Hello Eloise,
Just to add another version of this saint, in Holland they call him Sint
Rochus. The New Advent web site at www.newadvent.org for the Catholic
Encyclopedia is always a good source for eclestial Who is Who.
Martin Verhaegh

This is what says:
St. Roch.
Born at Montpellier towards 1295; died 1327. His father was governor
of that city. At his birth St. Roch is said to have been found
miraculously marked on the breast with a red cross. Deprived of
his parents when about twenty years old, he distributed his fortune
among the poor, handed over to his uncle the government of
Montpellier, and in the disguise of a mendicant pilgrim, set out
for Italy, but stopped at Aquapendente, which was stricken by the
plague, and devoted himself to the plague-stricken, curing them
with the sign of the cross. He next visited Cesena and other
neighbouring cities and then Rome. Everywhere the terrible scourge
disappeared before his miraculous power. He visited Mantua,
Modena, Parma, and other cities with the same results. At
Piacenza, he himself was stricken with the plague. He withdrew to
a hut in the neighbouring forest, where his wants were supplied by
a gentleman named Gothard, who by a miracle learned the place of
his retreat. After his recovery Roch returned to France. Arriving
at Montpellier and refusing to disclose his identity, he was taken
for a spy in the disguise of a pilgrim, and cast into prison by
order of the governor, -- his own uncle, some writers say, -- where
five years later he died. The miraculous cross on his breast as
well as a document found in his possession now served for his
identification. He was accordingly given a public funeral, and
numerous miracles attested his sanctity.

In 1414, during the Council of Constance, the plague having broken
out in that city, the Fathers of the Council ordered public prayers
and processions in honour of the saint, and immediately the plague
ceased. His relics, according to Wadding, were carried furtively
to Venice in 1485, where they are still venerated. It is commonly
held that he belonged to the Third Order of St. Francis; but it
cannot be proved. Wadding leaves it an open question. Urban VIII
approved the ecclesiastical office to be recited on his feast (16
August). Paul III instituted a confraternity, under the invocation
of the saint, to have charge of the church and hospital erected
during the pontificate of Alexander VI. The confraternity
increased so rapidly that Paul IV raised it to an
archconfraternity, with powers to aggregate similar confraternities
of St. Roch. It was given a cardinal-protector, and a prelate of
high rank was to be its immediate superior (see Reg. et Const.
Societatis S. Rochi). Various favours have been bestowed on it by
Pius IV (C. Regimini, 7 March, 1561), by Gregory XIII (C. dated 5
January, 1577), by Gregory XIV (C. Paternar. pont., 7 March, 1591),
and by other pontiffs. It still flourishes.

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