Religion: St. Roch & Cholera

In Montpellier, France toward the close of the 13th Century was born one Roch, son of the town's wealthy governor. Orphaned, Roch gave away his fortune, set out for Rome as a mendicant pilgrim. In town after town on the way, plagues miraculously disappeared upon his advent. But in Piacenza he fell ill himself, was expelled to a forest where he would have died save for the devoted ministrations of a dog. Roch died in his 30s, was identified by a red cross which, according to tradition, had been on his breast at birth. Roman Catholics came to believe God had...