The last in my curious quartet of holy men in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection is Roch, a 14th century saint who is patron of invalids and the ailing, apothecaries and gravediggers, dogs and dog-lovers, the falsely accused and imprisoned, and bachelors. The son of the governor of the French city of Montpelier, Roch was marked from birth with a red cross on his chest. After his parents died, he gave up his wealth and social standing to become a mendicant friar, bringing healing to towns across Italy struck with the bubonic plague. He eventually caught the disease, himself, and retreated to the woods, where the hunting dog of a local count helped restore him to health by bringing him bread and licking his wounds. Roch returned, unrecognized, to his hometown of Montpelier and was wrongfully imprisoned as a spy. His true identity was only revealed at his death by the holy marking found on his breast. Polish Folk Artist Marianna Wisnios depicts the wandering healer in a Franciscan habit carrying a cross with a bell to warn passersby of his illness. A canine companion laps up blood dripping for his wounds. (John Kohan)