Saint Roch was born in Montpellier in 1295 and died in 1332. You can recognize him almost immediately from an image: he usually pulls up his robe and points to a plague bump on his thigh.
You can usually recognize him by his four-legged friend, who carries bread or licks his wound. A saint depicted with a visible illness is quite unusual, but that is probably what made Rochus so popular.
By manfully displaying that wound, he evoked a bond with people who were suffering from the plague or an infectious disease. At the same time, Roch thus referred to the suffering of Jesus Christ, who, after all, had also courageously borne his fate.
He is the patron saint against the plague, but also against all kinds of other contagious diseases of humans and animals. Rochus was a beacon of comfort to sick people hoping for a cure.
The Saint-Roch chapel in Echt was also described as 'the Heyligenhuysken on the bruges', referring to the bridge over the Molenbeek on the Wijnstraat.
During the rebuilding in 2004-2005, the stone with the Latin chronogram ('aUXILIo DIVIno In peste et ACrl Igne tUeMUr') was bricked into the side wall of the building. The translation reads: 'By the divine help we shall be protected from plague and great fire'. Year 1687.
This text has been automatically translated using an online translation service.
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