Besides being a neighborhood in New Orleans, Saint Roch is also the name of a 19th century shrine covered with prosthetic body parts, crutches and other random offerings. Apparently Saint Roch is associated with the plague or something. The story goes that in 1867 as the yellow fever epidemic took over New Orleans, a German priest named Rev. Peter Thevis arrived in town. Hoping for a miracle, he turned to St. Roch, the patron of good health, promising that if no one in the parish died from the epidemic he would build a chapel and cemetery in honor of the saint. And that’s exactly what he did. The locals continued to revere the saint and for decades left polio braces, glass eyes, dental plates and other vintage medical artifacts when their health recovered. Definitely not something you see every day, that’s for sure.
Saint Roch
