May 23: Saint Giovanni Battista de’ Rossi
Charity towards the poor and proclamation of the Gospel
He visited the sick in Roman hospitals, managed a night shelter for the homeless, devoted himself to listening to penitents who crowded his confessional. He is Father Giovanni Battista de' Rossi, born on February 22, 1698, in Voltaggio (Genoa). At about thirteen years of age, he moved to Rome to study literature and philosophy at the Roman College and lived with a cousin who was a priest, a canon in Santa Maria in Cosmedin.
Having matured the desire to become a priest, in 1714, he dedicated himself to study, intensified his prayer life and placed himself at the service of his fellow students. During that period, he manifested signs of epilepsy. On March 8, 1721, he received priestly ordination and celebrated his first Mass at the tomb of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga in the church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
He came into contact with the hospice of San Galla, which had been opened around 1654 as a night shelter for the poor, farm workers and needy foreigners. In the adjacent church, Fr. Giovanni Battista founded the Pious Union of Secular Priests of San Galla. Next to this Hospice, he opened another one reserved for homeless women and girls, placed under the protection of Saint Aloysius.
In 1731 he was appointed chaplain of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, where long lines of penitents crowded his confessional. Once he took over as canon from his cousin, he donated his income in alms and provided the church with an organ and an organist. For himself he kept nothing, living in a small attic and leading an existence marked by extreme poverty. He never forgot to practice charity towards the sick and to pray for the formation of the clergy.
He died on May 23, 1764, and was beatified by Pope Pius IX, who had once been president of the Pious Union of Secular Priests of San Galla. Giovanni Battista de’ Rossi was canonized on December 8, 1881 by Pope Leo XIII and is buried in the church of the Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome.