Roque, St

Roque, St., a popular saint of the Roman Catholic Church in France, who is considered the special patron of those sick of the plague. Few particulars of his history have been preserved. He was born of a noble family in Montpellier, at the end of the 13th or early in the 14th century; and having undertaken a pilgrimage to Rome, was surprised on his way through Italy by an outbreak of the plague at Piacenza. He labored with generous zeal for the victims, fell sick, was abandoned by men, but a dog licked his sores. He recovered his health, returned to France, and after a life of great sanctity died at Montpellier, probably in 1327.