 |
| San Rocco di Montpellier, ora pro nobis |
This year marks the third anniversary of the heart attack that forever changed the course of my life. What I first received as a second chance has become something greater: a call to live more prayerfully and more attentively to the things of God. The joy that filled me in those early days has never faded. If anything, it has deepened into lasting peace.
First among my patrons, San Rocco has long occupied a privileged place in my devotions. For the past decade, I have been entrusted with safeguarding one of his holy relics, a responsibility I carry with reverence through daily prayer, burning candles, and incense. In contemplating his life as a pilgrim and healer, I have found a companion whose example continually calls me away from distraction and toward charity, humility, and trust in Divine Providence.
For those of us whose roots lie in Southern Italy, devotion to San Rocco is more than inherited custom. Devotion to the great saint has long united villages, families, and the faithful in prayer, hope, and charity. To honor him is to remain connected not only to our ancestors, but also to the enduring Catholic civilization that formed them.
God willing, I will once again have the privilege of joining my confratelli of the San Rocco Society in carrying the saint through the streets of Little Italy, just as generations before us have done. It is a small act of devotion, but one offered in thanksgiving for graces received, for vows faithfully kept, and for the undeserved gift of being granted another year beneath the mantle of the glorious Pilgrim. Evviva San Rocco!
~ By Giovanni di Napoli, August 15th, Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
