Over the holidays, saw a fair bit of Roman Catholic art, including representations of the various martyrdoms suffered. St. Sebastian, shot through with arrows, appeared frequently, and of course, crucifixion was a prominent motif for St. Peter. St. Lawrence on his griddle popped up occasionally. All bore it with various appearances of suffering and holiness.
And then there was the little painted wood carving of St. Roch. No blood, no imminent risk of death or dismemberment. Instead, he had hoisted up his robe to display his upper thigh, and was pointing, reproachfully, it seemed, with a 'Why me?" expression, to what looked like … a boil. Not a festering, infected boil. Just a boil.
I mean, boils are painful, no doubt, but as a saint’s emblem it seems a little - mundane? not really martyr-class. Why a boil for St. Roch?
St. Roch was said to have cured cases of plague, and to have contracted the disease himself. So it’s not that he had a boil – the boil is the external symbol of the more devastating plague.
Saint’s symbols are interesting things. Sometimes they travel in odd paths. St. Erasmus had his intestine pulled out, it was said, with a windlass, which was represented in art with him. But the windlass wheel looked like a ship’s wheel, and so Erasmus became a patron saint of mariners.
Another saint was said to have had her breasts torn out as part of her torture. She’s represented in art carrying them on a plate. Set apart like that, and somewhat stylized, they look like bells. She ended up the patroness of bell founders.
ah - plague. Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks. Must have just been the limitations of the medium. Plus, arrows and crucifixions and griddles just have more immediate visual appeal than a disease.
Witness St. Fiacre, whose portfolio includes taxi drivers:
On the subject of these lesser saintly responsibilities here is an explanation as to how Isidore of Seville became patron saint of the internet:
Do pontifical councils get involved in all new patron saint appointments or do some still happen by lore as in the case of Fiacre and cab drivers?
Specifically, how does St. Bernardino of Siena come to be the patron saint of advertising when advertising and saintliness are words one doesn’t normally expect to find in the same sentence?
The book I recommend is The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. I’ve spent hours flipping through that book. It lists the feast days and symbols, and has oodles of saints you never heard of.
The story goes that when he got the plague, he went into the woods and waited to die, but he was found by a dog. The dog would steal food from his owner’s dinner every night and brought it to the saint until he recovered.