Saint Roch

Roch lived sometime around the mid-to-late 1300s, though tradition pushes his dates earlier to the turn of the 14th century. A Majorcan Catholic confessor, he became especially associated with protection against plague during an era when the disease tore through Europe. His death is commemorated on 16 August in most places, 9 September in parts of Italy. Over time his patronage broadened - dogs, invalids, the falsely accused, bachelors - and his reach spread across regions and languages. Today he remains patron saint of multiple Italian towns including Dolo near Venice, Parma, Casamassima, and others, as well as communities in southern Spain and the Basque Country. His name travels: São Roque in Portuguese, Sant Roc in Catalan, San Roque in Spanish and the old Spanish colonies like the Philippines, San Rocco in Italian, Sveti Rok in Slovenian, Sveti Roko in Croatian. The invocation endures where the plague once did.