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St Roch Research Paper

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Jane Sclafani
Medieval Burgundy
4 May 2016
Saint Roch Saints have been depicted to be larger than life since the beginning of Catholicism. Over the past 2,000 years, we have plucked over 10,000 young, virtuous leaders from their average lives to answer to a higher calling. Saint Roch is amongst these men and women who over the years have guided the people of the Catholic Church to God’s word. Saint Roch was born on the southern border of France in 1295. His father acted as the governor of Montpellier while his mother spent her days raising their only son. His parents had always been decent people but made the decision to limit worldly goods and devote themselves to the Lord when they discovered they were expecting. Roch’s mother, Libera, …show more content…

He is commemorated with a Feast Day on August 16, the day he died, to remember all that he did for the less fortunate. He is often pictured with a cane (one of his only remaining possessions) and a dog by his side, representing the many miracles of God. Unfortunately, there is no real proof or relics around today that can be tied to this exact story of Saint Roch. The only proof that he existed at all is the documentation of his death that said his remains were actually found in Voghera rather than Montpellier. This is disappointing because it goes to show how easily our history can fade. Though the location of his remains is a small detail, it makes me wonder what other details have been misconstrued over the last couple centuries or if this story is even real at all (Voragine), (Begus). It is commonly believed that the story of Saint Roch is actually a fallacy based on the life of Saint Racho of Autun, Burgundy who lived during the 600s. Racho was canonized for protecting the public from ‘the storm’, which could likely refer to an illness similar to the plague. Unfortunately, information regarding Racho is hard to come by and the validity of the story of Saint Roch is questionable. It is possible that the truth is a combination of both testimonies or even neither considering how little is actually known about the history of these saints

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