Tag Archives: St. Roch

Prayer to St. Roch, patron of plague sufferers  

Jack Coulehan Stony Brook, New York   San Roque. Francisco Ribalta, between circa 1600 and circa 1610. Museu de Belles Arts de València. Via Wikimedia.   Please take your work to the next step,  St. Roch, beyond being a friendly ghost  to the lost. Bring us back from the edge.     Pour out the healing grace of your […]

Faith and patron saints during the Black Death

Mariella Scerri Mellieha, Malta   Saint Roch. 1502. Francesco Francia.  Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.  The Black Death of 1348 was the greatest biomedical disaster in European history. Although it was not the first plague epidemic, the Black Death swept through Europe, killing millions indiscriminately and affecting society like no other natural calamity.1 Attempts to understand the […]