Saint Giovanni Battista de Rossi

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Giovanni Battista de Rossi
birth_date=February 22, 1698
death_date=May 23, 1764
feast_day=May 23
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church


imagesize=
caption=
birth_place=Voltaggio, Province of Alessandria, Piedmont, Duchy of Savoy
death_place=Rome, Papal States
titles=Confessor
beatified_date=May 13, 1860
beatified_place=Rome
beatified_by=Pope Pius IX
canonized_date=December 8, 1881
canonized_place=Rome
canonized_by=Pope Leo XIII
attributes=
patronage=
major_shrine=Church of San Giovanni Battista de Rossi, Rome
suppressed_date=
issues=
prayer=
prayer_attrib=

Saint John Baptist de Rossi (February 22, 1698 - May 23, 1764) is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. [CathEncy|wstitle=St. John Baptist de Rossi]

Life

St John Baptist de Rossi was born in the municipality of Voltaggio, in the Province of Alessandria, Piedmont, then a part of the Duchy of Savoy. He was one of four children of Carlo de Rossi and Francesca Anfosi, relatively poor but very pious parents. At the suggestion of his uncle, Lorenzo de Rossi, a Church Canon, he travelled to Rome, to study at the Collegium Romanum, under the Jesuits.

His desire to become a priest was very strong, but was hampered by episodes of epilepsy, which would normally exclude one from the priesthood. Nonetheless he was granted a dispensation on March 8, 1721, and was ordained a priest soon after. He worked tirelessly in Rome on behalf of homeless women, the sick, prisoners and workers, becoming a very popular confessor. St John Baptist was known as a second Saint Philip Neri.

Owing to his selfless desire to assist the needy and downtrodden, he eventually succumbed to illness and died on May 23, 1764. His mortal remains were interred in the main altar of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims in Rome [* [http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/Santissima_Trinità_dei_Pellegrini "Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini" - Churches of Rome Wiki] ] , his base of operations. [* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08449a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: "St. John Baptist de Rossi"] ]

Beatification and canonization

Saint John Baptist de Rossi was beatified by Blessed Pius IX on May 13, 1860. The process had started nearly ninety years previously, but was delayed due to the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Revolutions of 1848. He was later canonized on December 8, 1881, by Pope Leo XIII.

Legacy

A church was dedicated to St John Baptist de Rossi in Rome in the year 1940, though construction was delayed for a while by the Second World War. This church was finally consecrated on May 22, 1965 (with the saint's relics translated the following day, his feast day from the Church of SS Trinità dei Pellegrini). [* [http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/Santissima_Trinità_dei_Pellegrini "Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini" - Churches of Rome Wiki] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08449a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: "St. John Baptist de Rossi"]
* [http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/Santissima_Trinità_dei_Pellegrini "Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini" - Churches of Rome Wiki]