Picture: Peter Paul Rubens · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Saint Roch

Christian saint (c.1348 - c.1376)

SaintResearchedThird Order of Saint FrancisPre-congregation

Feast: 16 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born

1295

verified

Died

1327

verified

Beatified

—

not needed: before formal processes

Canonised

By tradition

recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

Roch, son of the governor of Montpellier, gave away his fortune on his parents' death and set out as a poor pilgrim for Italy. There he devoted himself to the plague-stricken, curing many with the sign of the cross.

Struck by plague himself at Piacenza, he recovered in a forest hut. Returning home unrecognised, he was imprisoned as a spy and died in prison about 1327.

The miracles

Pope Urban VIII approved the Office for his feast; there was never a formal cause.

Why that counted as sanctity

A pilgrim who nursed the victims of plague.

Sources

Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Roch
Wikidata Q152457 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
English Wikipedia — Saint Roch (CC BY-SA)

Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.