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The St. Roch cemetery and shrine was first built in 1874. This newer section of the cemetery was added in 1895.
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Photo by Eileen Loh Harrist
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Hey Blake,
Who was St. Roch and why do we have a cemetery named after him?
Karen
Dear Karen,
St. Roch was quite a guy. Most believe that he was born in Montpellier, France, around 1295. His father was governor of the town. It is said that St. Roch was marked at birth with a red cross on his chest.
As the story goes, he was orphaned at age 20, gave all his fortune to the poor, gave the governorship to his uncle, and went on a pilgrimage to Rome. On the way, he stopped at a town stricken by the plague. The young man healed the people and moved on. Everywhere he visited in Italy, he cured all those he touched. Then he was himself stricken at Piacenza.
Rather than be a burden, he hid himself in a hut in a forest. And here comes the best part. A dog found him, licked his wounds, and brought him a small loaf of bread each day until he recovered.
Eventually, he made his way home to France, but his relatives did not recognize him, and he refused to reveal his identity. In his disguise as a pilgrim, he was taken for a spy and thrown into prison by order of the governor. There he died five years later in 1327.
The red cross on his breast and documents in his possession proved his identity, and 100 years after his death he was canonized.
Our own St. Roch Cemetery on St. Roch and Derbigny streets was created to honor this saint. In 1868, New Orleans was afflicted by a yellow fever epidemic, one of many scourges that plagued the city. Father Peter Leonard Thevis was a priest from Germany and pastor of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church. He remembered that people were helped by St. Roch during times of pestilence, so he and his congregation prayed to St. Roch to help them during this crisis. The priest promised that he would build with his own hands a chapel to the saint. Of course, legend has it that not a single parishioner died, and Father Thevis kept his promise.
He also planned a cemetery, begun in 1874, along with the shrine, and it was modeled after the famous Campo Santo dei Tedesci (Holy Field of the Germans) near St. Peter's in Rome. The cemetery was like the older ones in New Orleans, surrounded with wall vaults. Another section of the cemetery was added in 1895.
The chapel resembles a small chancel of a Gothic church and was completed in 1876. Made of carved and painted wood, the altar has a small statue of St. Roch and his faithful dog. For years, the shrine has been popular with the faithful, and many have left behind artificial limbs and crutches that testify to the miraculous cures worked through the intercession of the saint.
Under the floor in front of the altar lie the remains of Father Thevis. For many years on Good Friday, young girls would make a pilgrimage to St. Roch's Chapel. They believed the local legend that maidens who visited, prayed and left a donation in nine churches on that day would be promised a husband before the end of the year. It was especially lucky to end the pilgrimage at St. Roch's. The young ladies would pick a four-leaf clover from the cemetery. These clovers were different because they had red spots on them which, according to legend, resulted when a bride-to-be committed suicide on the grave of her intended and spattered blood everywhere.
St. Roch and his cemetery have been recognized by many others. The Louisiana State Museum has a wonderful painting of the St. Roch Cemetery and Shrine created by Louisiana artist John McCrady in 1950-52.
And Claremont, Calif. is home of the St. Roch Dog Rescue, an organization dedicated to saving abandoned and homeless dogs that has as its motto, "Serving people and dogs of all faiths and no faith at all."
As you might imagine, St. Roch, whose feast day is Aug. 16, is the patron saint of dogs and dog lovers.
