The Brotherhood of Saint Roch (Lithuanian: Rokitai; Polish: Rochici; Latin: Fratres Misericordiae sub titulo S. Rochi) was a Catholic religious institute in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
During its existence, the brotherhood maintained primitive hospitals and shelters (Lithuanian: špitolė) for the sick and the disabled in five locations: Vilnius (1708–1799), Kęstaičiai (1738–1842), Varniai (1743–1842), Kaunas (1750–1824), and Minsk (1752–1821).
It is known that they hired paramedics, doctors, and surgeons, including women nurses who could take care of their female patients.
[5] It ceased to exist in 1842 when, as reprisal for the Uprising of 1831, authorities of the Russian Empire confiscated its land, which was the source of its revenue.
[6] The brotherhood was established by Jonas Jarolavičius from Joniškis who sold his inheritance and founded a new church and hospital near the Vilnius Castle Complex.
[12] In 1715, the brotherhood was given the small Church of St. Stephen and hospital of St. Lazarus near the present-day Vilnius railway station.
[14] A 1790 report lamented that instead of caring for the poor, the hospital in Vilnius would accept only those with connections (e.g. servants of the wealthy residents).
It was determined that the Church of St. Philip and St. Jacob was the most suitable location to house 200 poor and 50 sick people.
[17] The brotherhood expanded outside Vilnius in 1738 when a church, monastery, and hospital were founded in Kęstaičiai in the Diocese of Samogitia.
[19] Most likely it functioned more as a shelter for mentally ill rather than a hospital (its inventory books do not mention expenses for medicines or doctors).
[20] Bishop of Samogitia Antoni Dominik Tyszkiewicz established the brotherhood in Varniai, then the seat of the diocese, in 1743.
[23] In 1782, the brotherhood moved outside the center of the town because the new bishop Jan Stefan Giedroyć did not approve of the mentally ill loitering around the cathedral.
[27] After the French invasion of Russia in 1812, the church was devastated, but remained standing, while other buildings burned to the ground.
An 1823 report found that the brothers, their patients, and foundlings (70–90 people in total) were crammed into a two-room building.