SAINT OF THE DAY

FRIDAY, 23 MAY 2025

SAINT JOHN BAPTIST DE ROSSI

CONFESSOR

‘THE APOSTLE OF THE ABANDONED'

(1698 - 1764)

John was born in Voltaggio, Genoa, Italy, in 1698. He was one of four children of Carlo de Rossi and Francesca Anfosi. They were poor but pious parents. When he was ten years old, some wealthy friends of the family took him in. They provided him with an excellent education.

Due to the suggestion of his uncle, Lorenzo de Rossi, who was a Church Canon, John travelled to Rome to study at the Collegium Romanum, under the Jesuits. He entered the Roman College at the age of 13 and completed the classical course of studies but began practising severe mortification. This practice, combined with a heavy course load and an epileptic stroke, led to a breakdown. He was forced to leave college. He recuperated and completed his training at Minerva but never regained his former strength.

At 23, he was ordained to the priesthood with dispensation, because of his poor health. He celebrated his first Mass in the Roman College. He was sent to Rome, where he worked with the poor and the sick. He concentrated on the hospice of Saint Galla, an overnight shelter for paupers, which had been founded by Pope Celestine III. John also helped start a nearby hospice for homeless women, which he placed, under the patronage of St. Aloysius Gonzaga - one of his favourite saints.

John avoided hearing confessions for fear he would have a seizure in the confessional, but the bishop of Civitá Castellana convinced him it was part of his vocation. He gave in, and soon became one of the most sought after confessors in Rome. He worked faithfully, spending many hours in the confessional. He gave particular importance to the confession of prisoners, the poor and illiterate in the hospitals or their homes. He preached to them five to six times a day in churches, chapels convents, hospitals, barracks and prison cells, and thus came to be known as “the apostle of the abandoned”, another Philip Neri.

In 1763, John's weak health obliged him to move to the Trinita dei Pellegrini, where he suffered a stroke. That same year he received the last sacraments. He regained enough strength and health to resume celebrating the Eucharist. In 1764, at the age of 66, he had another stroke, which led to his death. He was buried at the altar of the Blessed Virgin in the Church of Trinita de Pelleghrini. He was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on December 8, 1881.

PATRON: of the abandoned

SAINT JOHN BAPTIST DE ROSSI: PRAY FOR US.