Devotees of miraculous healer, San Roque (Saint Roch), celebrate Friday, Aug. 16, the feast day of the revered patron saint of the sick and the invalid.
Commemorative masses will be celebrated in churches placed under his patronage in different parts of the country. Novena masses in his honor were offered from Aug. 7 to 15.
Venerated as the protector against the plague, local devotion to San Roque started as early as the year 1637 when, according to stories, many were miraculously cured of malaria after holding a procession in honor of the healing saint.
At the height of the pandemic, then Diocese of Antipolo Bishop Francisco de Leon called on the faithful to pray to San Roque for protection against the Covid-19.
Church-run Radio Veritas likewise held a daily nationwide prayer to San Roque for deliverance against the corona virus.
The Archdiocese of Manila also designated four parishes under the patronage of San Roque as Archdiocesan Churches of Intercession. These were the churches under the patronage of San Roque in Blumentritt, Pasay, Mandaluyong, and Sampaloc.
Born in 1295 in Montpellier, France, San Roque was miraculously marked from birth with a red cross on his chest that increased in size as he grew up.
He entered the Franciscan Order and cared for the sick and the poor. He was known as a miracle healer as he cured the sick through prayer, the touch of his hand, and by making the sign of the cross.
San Roque died at the age of 32 on Aug. 16, 1327 and was buried at the Church of San Rocco in Venice, Italy.