Feast Day of St. Roch, Patron Saint of Dogs

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Although most associates of these with fur, fin and feathers know that Saint Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals, do you know that there’s additionally a patron saint of canines? To commemorate the annual Feast Day of St. Roch, we’ve got fetched the data you should know!

Who was St. Roch, the Patron Saint of Dogs?

Born in 1348, a picture of a cross that marked his chest from delivery was an outward signal of Roch’s internal devotion. Although raised the son of a noble governor, at age 20 he gave away his worldly possessions and launched into a pilgrimage to Rome at a time when Italy discovered itself within the grip of the bubonic plague. Believed to have miraculously cured many who have been ailing alongside the way in which, whereas administering to the sick in Piacenza, Roch himself fell sufferer to the illness.   

Leaving the town, Roch retreated into the forest. Although he made a shelter with supplies that the bushes supplied, and drank water from a close-by spring, Roch would have starved to dying if not for the act of a nobleman’s kind-hearted canine. 

The canine took bread every day to the sick pilgrim and licked his wounds to assist him heal. An outline of the devoted canine accompanies renditions of the saint in artworks to this present day. 

When is the Feast Day of Saint Roch?

Saint Roch is remembered with prayers on August 16, the anniversary of the day he handed away, both in 1376 or 1379. 

The Patron Saint of Dogs, and…

Along with being the patron saint of canines, Saint Roch can be the patron saint of:

• invalids
• individuals who have been falsely accused
• bachelors
• apothecaries
• tile makers
• second-hand sellers
• diseased cattle
• patron saint towards epidemics

The Tale of Saint Roch and Guinefort, A Canine Folk Saint

Although their timelines made it unattainable for his or her paths to cross, the story of Saint Roch is usually interwoven with that of Saint Guinefort, with the four-legged French folks saint taking up the function of Roch’s canine carer, whose title has been misplaced within the mist of time.

For those that have no idea the story of Guinefort, he was a trustworthy Greyhound of a knight who lived within the 1300s. Upon the knight’s return from a searching expedition his guardian discovered the canine by an overturned crib, his mouth dripping with blood.  Believing that the canine had eaten his toddler son, the knight struck Guinefort down.

As the canine lay dying, the reality got here to gentle: the canine had in reality killed a snake that will have taken the lifetime of the newborn. 

Heartbroken by his hasty motion, Guinefort’s human household buried the courageous Greyhound in a nicely, which they become a shrine.

Although by no means formally acknowledged by the Catholic church, as late because the Nineteen Thirties fearful mother and father within the area of Lyon with an ailing baby would go to Guinefort’s shrine to hope to the four-legged patron saint of youngsters. 

St. Roch Prayer for Dogs

O Blessed saint Roch, patron saint of canines, I ask you to pour out your love upon my canine.

May my candy canine at all times be loving and dependable and be a pleasure to me and people I like.

Carry my canine to the throne of the Father and ask Him to bless my canine with lengthy life  and nice happiness.

Pray pricey saint that my canine keep free from sickness and that my canine at all times comforts me as the one that you love canine comforted and cared for you.

Thank you for asking the Lord to bless my canine and for begging him to pour our particular graces upon all canines and canine house owners.

May they bring about nice love to 1 one other and stay companionably in peace.  Amen. 

Patron Saint of Montpellier

Saint Roch got here into this world and handed out of it within the French metropolis of Montpellier, which commemorates the date of his dying every year with the Fete de la Saint Roch, which features a blessing of animals among the many day’s actions.  

Saint Roch in Art

The patron saint of canines has impressed various sculptors over the centuries.  Along with statues that maintain a spot of honor in many homes of worship around the globe, there are additionally depictions of Saint Roch and the pup who helped him on the trail to restoration on show in museums:

A painted pinewood statue from an unknown sixteenth century Spanish artist may be seen on the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The metropolis can be house to a fifteenth century German picket rendition of the saint at The Science Museum. 

At The Cloisters at The Met in New York City, artwork aficionados can view early sixteenth century French and German picket representations of the saint among the many museum’s assortment of Byzantine and medieval artworks.

The sixteenth century Italian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo captured his interpretation of the saint and the canine who cared for him in a portray which at present hangs within the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Another Patron Saint of Dogs: St. Hubert

Although St. Roch is healthier often known as the patron saint of canines, St. Hubert additionally holds that title. 

A patron saint of hunters (though he himself disavowed the apply upon seeing the form of a crucifix between the antlers of a stag), the “apostle of the Ardennes” has been prayed to for assist to remedy rabies and is usually portrayed with a canine companion.

Other Patron Saints of Animals

There are over 10,000 patron saints, with a number of performing as guardians for our animal associates: 

• Patron Saint of Animals:  Saint Francis of Assisi  (Feast Day: October 4– a date which can be World Animal Day)
• Patron Saint of Bees:  Saint Ambrose (Feast Day: December 7)
• Patron Saint of Birds and Poultry: Saint Gall (Feast Day: October 16)
• Patron Saint of Blackbirds: Saint Kevin (Feast Day: June 3)
• Patron Saint of Cats: Saint Gertrude of Nivelles
• Patron Saint of Cattle:  Saint Bridgid of Ireland (Feast Day: February 1)
• Patron Saint of Domestic Animals and Livestock:  Saint Anthony the Abbot (Feast Day: January 17)
• Patron Saint of Fish: Saint Neot (Feast day: July 31)
• Patron Saint of Geese: Saint Martin of Tours (Feast Day: November 11)
• Patron Saint of Horned Animals: Saint Guy of Anderlecht (Feast Day: September 12)
• Patron Saint of Horses and Cattle: Saint Eligius (Feast Day: December 1)
• Patron Saint of Lions: Saint Mark (Feast Day: April 25)
• Patron Saint of Rams:  Saint Giles (Feast Day: September 1)
• Patron Saint of Sheep:  Saint Drogo (Feast Day: April 16)
• Patron Saint of Storks: Saint Agricola (Feast day: September 2)
• Patron Saint of Whales: Saint Brendan The Navigator (Feast Day: May 16)
• Patron Saint of Wolves: Saint Edmund of East Anglia (Feast Day: November 20)

The Patron Saint of Veterinarians 

Having cared for ailing animals (a few of whom, it’s believed, would search him out on their very own for assist) St. Blaisis, whose feast day falls on February third, grew to become a patron saint to each animals and veterinarians. 

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