Pilgrims, believers or atheists: all paid homage to Saint Roch, born in Montpellier

Hospitalier et pèlerin leurs chemins se croisent pour la Saint Roch Midi Libre – Fiona Slous

Dominique Daniel became a hospital worker to give in turn Midi Libre – Fiona Slous

François Gourgeaud au cœur d’un heureux hasard pour la Saint Roch Midi Libre – Fiona Slous

This Friday, August 16, the city of Montpellier celebrated Saint Roch. For the occasion, the relics of the patron saint of pilgrims paraded through the streets. A gîte adjoining the church welcomes the Jacquets on the road to Santiago de Compostela.

The tibia and the staff, relics of Saint Roch that attract 150,000 to 200,000 pilgrims each year to his Montpellier sanctuary, which has also become a stopover on the Way of Saint James. A heavy green wooden door behind the church leads to the gîte of the same name. Connected to the holy place by a stone tunnel, it welcomes pilgrims on the Arles route. This year, more than six hundred travelers have already spent a night there, including François Gourgeaud, a 31-year-old pilgrim.

An atypical lodging

“I have made several pilgrimages. And of all the accommodations, this is the first one so grandiose, with works of art, a high ceiling. The stones tell a story,” shares the pilgrim. The cottage was built on the ruins of the old Saint-Paul church.

Through a glass door, boarders can peek into the sacristy of the Saint-Roch church, usually closed to the public. This is where Michel Spittler, a volunteer at the sanctuary, prepared the relics, including the tibia, for the Saint Roch procession.“The proximity of the cottage reflects the values ​​of Saint Roch who offers the needy bread, care and a few nights of shelter”, explains Michel.

A question of coincidence

Saint Roch was the perfect opportunity to combine pilgrimage and religious meditation. But for François, it is pure chance: “The path is full of coincidences, it almost becomes delirious. I joined the Arles route on a whim. And there I found myself sleeping in the Saint-Roch gîte, on the day of Saint Roch, alongside the father of a very good friend who had decided to spend a month as a hospital worker in this accommodation.

Dominique Daniel, author of Discovering Compostela and its paths in 250 questions and hospital worker at the Saint-Roch gîte, calls it Providence: “it exists. Proof of this is that in two days, I welcomed two pilgrims who knew me. That is also part of the journey: meeting people and leaving room for chance”.

A social experience

Why start this journey via the Arles route ? “When you walk towards Compostela, they say you should expect nothing. In reality, I hope to find the grace that I felt during my previous journeys: a bubble enchanted by mutual aid and the creation of a community”, explains François.

The hospital workers accompany the travelers and bring them a little comfort. “Becoming a hospitalier means having another relationship with the Camino de Santiago, it means giving back what I was given, allowing travelers to calm down, to know that they have a place to stay”, confides Dominique.

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