Giovanni Battista de' Rossi

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Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista de' Rossi, Rome, Italy
Feast23 May
Attributes
PatronageVoltaggio

Giovanni Battista de' Rossi (22 February 1698 – 23 May 1764) was an

epileptic seizures could manifest in the Confessional. Rossi opened a hospice for homeless women not long after his ordination, and he became known for his work with prisoners and ill people, to whom he dedicated his entire ecclesial mission.[3]

Rossi's canonization was celebrated on 8 December 1881. It had begun decades before but was suspended due to tensions in Europe that meant work could not be pursued regarding the cause; it was later revitalized and he was beatified in 1860.[1]

Life

Education and ordination

Giovanni Battista de' Rossi was born in February 1698 in Voltaggio, the last of four children to Carlo and Francesca Anfosi de' Rossi, who were poor but pious.[4]

His initial education was under the care of the two priests Scipio Gaetano and Giuseppe Repetto who noted his potential and brilliance and held him as their favorite student. In 1708 he met after Mass a noble couple (Giovanni Scorza and Maria Battina Cambiasi) from Genoa who, with his father's approval, took Giovanni Battista in as a page after noting his potential and he went to school there.[1] His father's sudden death in 1710 saw his mother plead with him to return home but Rossi was firm in his resolve to continue with his studies; his older brother died not long after their father. Rossi met two Capuchin friars at the Scorza residence one evening who thought well of him and offered to help him continue his studies. He had known the friars - or of them - as he mentioned to them that an uncle was a Capuchin.[2][3]

At the suggestion of his cousin, Lorenzo de' Rossi,

Jesuits. Rossi underwent his philosophical and theological studies at the Dominican College of Saint Thomas. It was around this time that he joined the "Ristretto of the Twelve Apostles".[3] On one occasion he attended Mass but fainted and was found to have had an epileptic seizure
; this would be something he would have to grapple with for the remainder of his life and it meant he would not be able to attend classes sometimes due to the tiredness and the pain.

His desire to become a priest was strong but was hampered due to his epilepsy which, under normal circumstances, would exclude one from the

confessor. Rossi became known as a second Philip Neri and had a special devotion to Aloysius Gonzaga.[2][1]

Canon

His cousin Lorenzo wanted him as coadjutor to ensure Rossi would become his successor; Giovanni Battista accepted in February 1735. But his cousin soon had a major stroke so violent that it shattered him to the point where his benign character became abrasive and often violent. Lorenzo's servants kept their distance but Rossi alone remained loving and faithful to his ailing cousin.[4] Lorenzo raged that Rossi was the cause of his suffering and often threw medicine bottles at Rossi's head drawing blood.

In 1737, after his cousin's death, he became the

canon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin and used his position to purchase a new organ for the church. He also sold his cousin's sumptuous home and distributed the funds to the poor. For a long time he avoided hearing confessions fearing that he would have an epileptic seizure in the confessional, while in 1739 a friend suggested he could do more good hearing confessions. Rossi was not authorized due to his condition and resisted it for a while but was consoled when the Bishop of Civitá Castellana Giovanni Francesco Maria Tenderini told him that it was all part of his vocation.[2][3] Rossi received authorization to hear confessions though his obligations to the church choir made it hard for him to go back and forth during Mass to the booth and to the choir. To that end Pope Clement XII dispensed him from his obligation in the choir so he could hear confessions without distractions; Pope Benedict XIV confirmed this dispensation and made it permanent.[3][1]
But a bitter canon believed that Rossi lied to acquire the dispensation and Rossi soon fell ill due to the distress. But he remained charitable to his now-ill critic whom he visited several times before that canon died.

Declining health and death

In 1748 his health became weakened to the point that he moved to

Anointing of the Sick. But those around him were surprised for he seemed to recover and celebrate several Masses. But his health declined once more and he was again confined to his sick bed.[4]

His condition deteriorated on 21 May 1764; he died on 23 May 1764 at 9:00am after multiple strokes. His mortal remains were interred in the main altar of the church of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome, but were relocated in 1965 to a new church named in his honor. Elizabeth Herbert wrote a biographical account of Rossi in English.[1]

Titular church

A

translated
the following 23 May from Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini).

This church - since 1969 - has been a titular church for those cardinals with the rank of

Cardinal-Priest
.

Sainthood

The cause for canonization began under

Saint Peter's Basilica
on 13 May 1860.

On 8 December 1881 the acknowledgement of two more miracles in 1881 enabled Pope Leo XIII to canonize him as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Pettiti, Gianpiero. "Saint Giovanni Battista de' Rossi". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "Saint Giovanni Battista Rossi". Saints SQPN. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Spiritual Newsletter". Abbey of Saint-Joseph de Clairval. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Mougeot, E., St. John Baptist de Rossi, Benziger Bros., 1906

External links