St. Roch Cemetery has - along its walls and in its corners - beautiful life-size statues depicting the 14 Stations of the Cross. A pilgrimage on Good Friday, led by a local priest, draws worshippers to the cemetery every year to walk and revere the stations. Yet, what truly sets St. Roch Cemetery apart is it's infamous and unique shrine room, off to the right inside the tiny chapel, where offerings of thanks are left to St. Roch for his intervention in their suffering. St. Rocco was a man who administered to plague victims in his life and is now the patron saint of infectious diseases. The Ninth Ward's New Orleans chapel was built for and dedicated to him when, in 1868, Rev. Thevis had his prayers to the saint answered - his parishioners were saved from a terrible yellow fever epidemic that was then sweeping the city. You can read more about the chapel's history here. Since that time, St. Roch appears to have interceded for many, who leave their offerings of thanks to him - creating a bizarre and hauntingly beautiful space that is touching and, also, uniquely New Orleans. You cannot help but stand inside the tiny room and wonder about the stories behind each item left there; which includes everything from ceramic body parts, prosthetics, crutches and leg braces to glass eyes, a kidney mold, a glitter-bespeckled camera, and a dead bird. Some pieces are obviously symbolic while others are the genuine article, something that someone, presumably, was able to cast off thanks to the intercession of St. Roch. Though the area - the 9th Ward - was badly flooded during Hurricane Katrina, it has persevered.