Saint Roch

Saint Roch has been the  saintmost invoked against epidemics since the Middle Ages. He was especially prayed to in Italy, being well-known there for his miracles. His protection has gradually expanded to animals, the agricultural world, natural disasters and, of course, serious diseases. Later, he would be considered an example of Christian charity and solidarity.

(Discover other saints in the Guide to Saints on Hozana)

The Life of Roch of Montpellier

Pilgrim and miracle worker, Saint Roch was born in the middle of the Hundred Years' War, in the city of Montpellier, of which he would become the patron saint. When his parents died, he became a pilgrim and set out for Rome. Once his pilgrimage was over, he took care of many sick people in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. He himself became ill, and an angel of the Lord came to his rescue. His body and soul were saved by his great faith and total trust in God. On his way back to Montpellier, he was accused of espionage for not wanting to reveal his identity. Locked up in prison in Voghera, he died after five years of confinement. It was thanks to the birthmark on his chest in the shape of a cross that, years later, his body could be identified.

Today, most of his body is still in Italy, in the church of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, in Venice. However, one of his bones is in a chapel, at the back of the Saint-Roch sanctuary, in Montpellier, where his pilgrim's staff is also located.

Saint Roch and His Miraculous Healing

Arriving in Italy, in the city of Acquapendente, ravaged by the plague, he began to heal the sick without fear of being contaminated. He traced a simple sign of the cross on the suffering people, and they were delivered from evil. He continued his miracles in the city of Cesena. The whole city was freed from the plague, thanks to Saint Roch.

He then went to Rome, where he treated a cardinal and the sick of the hospital of the Holy Spirit. Pope Urban V, seeing this, remitted his faults. Saint Roch remained in the holy city for three years before returning to the roads of Europe to heal the sick. He stopped, in particular, in the hospital of Our Lady of Bethlehem in the city of Piacenza. He had to stop, since he himself was suffering from the plague. He suffered a lot in the name of the Catholic faith, but did not die a martyr. For this, the Church granted him the canonical title of confessor.

Praying with Saint Roch

Pray to Saint Roch against epidemics

Saint Roch,
 you have cared with so much generosity
  and charity for the patients suffering from the plague.
 God has granted you several times the ability to heal
 by the sign of the Cross,
 the sick who are considered lost. With great confidence, we turn
 to you and we beg you:
 Intercede with the Lord
  to obtain improvement and healing,
 if God permits, in serious diseases. Save us from epidemics,
 Help us in the diseases of the body,
 but also of our souls.
 With great confidence, we
  ask you to protect us from lightning in thunderstorms. Saint Roch, pray for us. Sacred
  Heart of Jesus, I trust in you, Sorrowful and Immaculate
  Heart of Mary, pray for us. Amen.

Pray to Saint Roch to Preserve our Health

Infected,
Imprisoned,
You who healed the bodies and brought men to God,
Intercede for us and preserve us from the miseries of the body and the soul.

Pray for the sick with Hozana!

Continue your prayer, with Hozana, by asking Jesus to intercede for healing. The Lord can help us to heal from our torments to regain inner peace.  

Finally, let us give thanks to Mary for the graces granted, and the prayers answered by testifying to her love and his miracles.