Saint Roch - Popular Culture

Popular Culture

• A popular Spanish tongue twister is El perro de san Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha robado ("Saint Roch's dog has no tail because Ramón Ramírez stole it").
• In Bolivia, Saint Roch's day, though not as celebrated as it once was, is considered the "birthday of all dogs", in which the dogs around town can be seen with colorful ribbons tied to them.
• The main train station of Montpellier, France is named after St. Roch, as well as a church, a hospital and many squares and streets.
• In Bingen, Germany there is a St. Rochus pilgrimage church on top of a hill. Every year in August a one week pilgrimage — the "St. Rochusfest" — is held in memory of a 17th century vow of the city council.
• Some churches that are named after the saint distribute, as a pietistic practice, the "bread of Saint Rocco" to parishioners on August 16, his feast day.
• Saint Rocco's procession is featured in the movie The Godfather Part II. In the procession, the St. Rocco Society of Potenza, Inc., which still exists after its commencement in 1889, carries the Italian-made (original) statue in a similar manner that a replica statue is carried today. The original statue, also from 1889, can be viewed in St. Joseph's Church in New York City.
• According to Montague Summers' The Vampire in Europe, St. Roch was prayed to in Poland to ward off vampire attacks.
• The initials VSR (Viva San Rocco or Long Live St. Rocco) can still be found above doorways in Europe: This was engraved as a plea to ward off the plague.
• In Batman: Arkham City, if the player visits Calendar Man on the Feast Day of St. Roch (August 16), he will talk about the year where he set rabid dogs upon Gotham City on that day. He notes that it is an obscure holiday but remarks "I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate the dog days of summer."

• In 2012, GMA 7 aired a drama named after him entitled Aso ni San Roque