Rocco, Saint. — A young pilgrim, born in Montpellier and died at Angleria (Angera, on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore) in the 14th century; invoked from the 15th century together with St. Sebastian, whose reputation as a thaumaturge was gradually overshadowed by his, as protector against the plague. Feast day: 16 August.
1. BIOGRAPHICAL DATA
Despite the *Acta breviora* and the *Vita s. Rochi* by Francesco Diedo (see below in the bibliography), the chronology and part of the biography of the Saint remain obscure, to the point that some have gone so far as to deny his historical personality. The dates 1205 and 1327 for his birth and death, provided by Diedo without any known basis, do not align with the events narrated in the *Vita*. In 1921, P. Guerrini suggested ca. 1355 as the probable date of death; recently, after a careful analysis of the *Acta breviora*, A. Maurino and A. Fliche proposed, respectively, 1345 and 1377, and 1350 and 1378–79, as the dates for his birth and death. It has also been claimed that the name R. was a transformation of the surname of the ancient Montpellier family of the Rocchi or Rog (Rubeus), to which R. would have belonged; however, the name R. is not at all unknown in medieval onomastics. A bishop of Autun at the beginning of the 7th century was called “Racho” or “Rocco,” and his feast was celebrated on 28 January (cf. L. Duchesne, *Fastes épiscopaux de l’ancienne Gaule*, II, Paris 1910, p. 179; V. JALABERT, LOUIS, *Les bréviaires*, V, index, p. 261); a Psalter from Treviso from around the mid-13th century records on 1 July the feast of “s. Rochi conf.” (cf. V. JALABERT, LOUIS, *Les psautiers*, II, p. 99); the recent edition (Rome 1936) of the *Passio b. Petri Parentii* from the beginning of the 13th century mentions a young man “nomine Rochus” (cf. P. Paschini, *Notarella su s. R.*, in *Rivista di storia della Chiesa in Italia*, 4 [1950], p. 248).
Neglecting the *Acta*, duly separated from hagiographic commonplaces, the following biographical details seem truly reliable. Orphaned at a young age, R., after distributing his paternal inheritance in alms, left Montpellier for a pilgrimage to Rome; upon arriving at Acquapendente, he placed himself at the service of the plague-stricken, who were the first to experience his remarkable thaumaturgic powers; from there he went to Cesena to perform the same charitable office. From Cesena he resumed his journey to Rome, where he cured a cardinal who then presented him to the Pope. In the