St. Roch’s Chapel
Posted: 04.03.2025 | Updated: 04.03.2025
A small chapel in New Orleans known as St. Roch Chapel has a fascinating history and equally fascinating ghosts. The chapel was built by a priest who believed St. Roch had performed a miracle on his congregation. Centuries later, the priest is said to still haunt his former parish, and strange things continue to happen.
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Is St. Roch Chapel Haunted?
An eclectic array of ghosts are known to haunt St. Roch’s Chapel and its adjoining cemetery. For years, visitors have encountered the ghost of a large black dog who can walk through walls.
A potentially evil hooded figure also wanders between the crypts, as does the ghost of the chapel’s first priest. An array of strange sights, sounds, and feelings are all said to make a trip to St. Roch’s thoroughly creepy.
History of St. Roch Chapel
The story of St. Roch’s Chapel begins during the Yellow Fever outbreak of 1867, which claimed the lives of 3,000 residents in New Orleans. Father Peter Leonard Thevis was the priest at the city’s Fauborg Franklin parish and prayed to St. Roch, the patron saint of plagues and diseases.
St. Roch lived in 14th-century France and was said to perform miraculous healings. When St. Roch himself became ill, he went into the forest to die but was nursed back to health by a dog.
Father Thevis promised St. Roch that if he spared the congregation from succumbing to yellow fever, he would build a chapel in the saint’s honor. As it turned out, no one from the parish died, and Thevis set out to fulfill his promise.
St. Roch’s Chapel was completed in 1875, and two adjoining cemeteries were built soon after. When Father Thevis died in 1893, he was buried under the floor in front of the altar inside St. Roch’s Chapel.
Today, the small but ornate chapel and cemeteries are open to the public. The swirling wrought iron gates are flanked on either side by angel statues who lost their wings in a hurricane. The odd detail seems fitting for the hauntings that occur there.
Unusual Offerings and Rituals
There is a small room off the main chapel where visitors can leave offerings to St. Roch. Considering that St. Roch is believed to watch over the sick, those who have healed leave their casts, braces, and crutches as a testament that they healed, thanks to the intercession of St. Roch. At least one visitor has left a fake eye after receiving a transplant.
St. Roch is also the patron saint of bachelors. It’s said that if you’re single and go to pray at St. Roch on Good Friday, you will soon find the love of your life and marry them.
Hauntings of St. Roch’s Chapel
A variety of ghostly phenomena make St. Roch’s Chapel and Cemetery one of the most haunted locations in New Orleans. Visitors to the cemetery report hearing voices coming from the crypts of long-dead residents.
Some feel as though they’ve been touched by an unseen force, while others have seen unexplainable orbs of light floating through the cemetery. Another common occurrence after visiting St. Roch’s is nightmares.
People will have nightmares for days and sometimes weeks after spending time in the chapel and cemetery. In extreme cases, ghostly activity will occur in their home, as if a spirit has followed them. A psychic who investigated St. Roch’s determined that these phenomena aren’t malevolent, but simply the spirits’ way of protecting the cemetery from having too many visitors.
The Black Dog
The most commonly seen ghost at St. Roch’s isn’t a person but an animal. Visitors repeatedly claim to have seen a large black dog wandering through the rows of crypts in the cemetery. When people approach the dog to see if it’s lost, it will vanish through a crypt wall or simply disappear.
Black dogs are seen as omens that foreshadow impending tragedy in some folklore. Others believe that the black dog is a hellhound sent to guard the gates of Hell. This black dog can’t be too imposing if people try to approach it, but it could be the cause of some of the nightmares.
Ironically, St. Roch was also the patron saint of dogs.
Father Thevis and the Hooded Figure
Two other entities known to frequent St. Roch’s are Father Thevis and a spirit known simply as “The Hooded Figure.” As in life, many believe that Father Thevis’ ghost is mainly concerned with the state of the chapel and cemetery. His ghost can be seen walking in between the cemetery crypts before fading into mist.
The Hooded Figure is somewhat less pleasant. There are no reports of anyone seeing the apparition’s face, but some believe it is not the ghost of a human given its extreme height. Those who have encountered the Hooded Figure experience an overwhelming sense of sadness and dread.
The Haunted Rose Bush
An enduring legend in the lore of St. Roch is that of Carrie and Jimmy. At the beginning of the 20th century, a young couple named Carrie and Jimmy fell in love. Jimmy told Carrie about his feelings through flowers.
He sent her roses in three different colors in varying amounts: 9 in one color, 12 in another, and 3 in a third. Carrie deduced that the numbers corresponded with the letters ILC for “I Love Carrie” based on each letter’s number in the alphabet.
After making his feelings known, Jimmy was drafted into World War I and died. A heartbroken Carrie planted rose bushes around his grave in St. Roch’s Cemetery. As time went on, she wanted to marry another man and went to Jimmy’s grave for a sign. When 14 red roses and 15 blue roses appeared, she had her answer: a resounding “NO!”
Carrie was disappointed but was later relieved to have turned down the proposal after learning the man had killed his previous fiancé.
Haunted New Orleans
The hauntings at St. Roch’s Chapel are just a few of the many that make up the ghostly tapestry of New Orleans. If you’re planning your next trip to New Orleans, you can learn all about these ghostly tales by booking a ghost tour with NOLA Ghosts today! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real Louisiana hauntings.
Sources:
- https://www.verylocal.com/haunted-nola-the-plague-the-promise-and-the-ghost-dog-of-st-roch-cemetery/8406/
- https://frightfind.com/st-roch-cemetery/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFB9L-DQXa4
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