Saint Jean-Baptiste de
Rossi
Prêtre (+1746)
Prêtre originaire de Gênes, il exerça son ministère à Rome parmi les pauvres,
les malades et les prisonniers auxquels il consacrait toutes ses ressources et
le meilleur de son temps.
À Rome, en 1764, saint Jean-Baptiste de Rossi, prêtre. Humble et pauvre, il
consacra sa vie à s'occuper des pauvres, des miséreux, des abandonnés de toute
sorte, en les visitant, les accueillant, les imprégnant de la doctrine du
salut.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1206/Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-Rossi.html
Saint Jean-Baptiste de
Rossi
Confesseur
Giovanni Battista de
Rossi naquit dans la petite ville de Voltaggio, au diocèse de Gênes, le 22
Février 1698.
Son père, Charles, était
de condition modeste, mais d'une Foi profonde qui le fit veiller de près, tant
qu'il vécut, à l'éducation religieuse de ses quatre enfants.
Deux nobles génois, Jean
Scorza et Maria Cambiasi, sa femme, qui villégiaturaient à Voltaggio, furent
charmés de ses qualités et le demandèrent à son père en qualité de page.
Trois ans après il les
quittait, appelé à Rome par un cousin, Don Laurent de Rossi, chanoine de la
Basilique de Sainte-Marie in Cosmedin.
Celui-ci, avec une
générosité et une affection qui ne se démentirent jamais, le fit instruire au
Collège romain.
Jean-Baptiste y suivit
les cours avec un tel succès, que, tous les ans, il obtenait le titre de
dictateur, réservé à l'élève le plus brillant de chaque classe.
En 1721, avec une
dispense de près d'un an, il était ordonné Prêtre, et il commençait l'admirable
vie d'apostolat des pécheurs et des pauvres qui l'ont fait comparer à Saint
Philippe de Néri et à Saint Vincent de Paul.
Il évangélisa d'abord les
pauvres bergers de la campagne romaine qui apportaient à la ville leurs
denrées.
Il venait dès le lever de
l'aurore, au coucher du soleil, les trouver sur les places où ils
s'assemblaient, leur parlait avec affection, s'intéressait à leurs petites
affaires, à leur commerce, gagnait leur confiance ; peu à peu il s'insinuait
dans ces âmes frustes et grossières, peu soucieuses des choses éternelles;
enfin il les touchait, les tournait vers Dieu, éveillait en elles le désir du
Salut ; triomphant, il les guidait vers un confesseur, car lui-même ne se
croyait pas assez instruit pour s'asseoir au tribunal de la Pénitence.
Bientôt ce travail ingrat
et dur ne lui suffit pas. Les vagabonds, puis les prisonniers, les gens d'armes
des tribunaux, - voire le bourreau lui-même, - attirèrent ses soins et
profitèrent de son dévouement.
Son œuvre préférée fut pendant
longtemps l'hospice de Santa-Galla, où un bon Prêtre, Don Vaselli, réunissait
déjà des pauvres abandonnés qui avaient besoin d'instruction religieuse.
Jean-Baptiste s'était
attaché à cette maison dès le temps où il fréquentait le Collège romain.
Prêtre, il s'y donna plus
encore, jusqu'à ce qu'enfin il succéda à Don Vaselli dans la direction, moins
imposée par une règle positive que bénévolement acceptée, des Prêtres qui se
consacraient à ce Ministère.
Et puis il eut le désir
de donner aux pauvres filles qui erraient sans domicile dans les rues de Rome
un asile au moins pour la nuit.
Il fonda pour elles
l'hospice Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, dirigé par une Prieure et une sous-Prieure.
Ce n'est qu'en 1739 que,
triomphant des hésitations de son humilité, le vénérable Tenderini, Évêque
d'Orte, l'orienta vers la direction des âmes.
Il s'y révéla
immédiatement maître, et maître merveilleux. Dorénavant sa grande et constante
occupation fut d'entendre les Confessions ; il y acquit une réputation que l'on
peut dire mondiale, puisque, comme un siècle plus tard pour le Saint curé
d'Ars, on vit des pénitents lui venir de Portugal, d'Espagne ou même
d'Allemagne, attirés par la réputation de sa sainteté et de sa Miséricorde.
Sa santé devenait de plus
en plus précaire; les crises de sa maladie, plus fréquentes, secouaient son
pauvre corps au point de le laisser pendant plusieurs jours dans une véritable
agonie ; il ne se soutenait qu'avec peine sur ses jambes affaiblies, presque
hors d'usage ; son estomac refusait à peu près toute nourriture ; il ne pouvait
ni lire ni écrire.
Malgré tout il allait, et
soit pour confesser, soit pour prêcher, soit pour consoler et encourager, il
avait toujours des forces.
C'est qu'il les puisait
dans un Amour de Jésus-Eucharistie qui s'épanouissait en un oubli absolu de
lui-même.
Détaché de toute grandeur
humaine et de toute richesse, il avait fallu un ordre exprès de son confesseur
pour lui faire accepter la succession de son cousin, Don Laurent, à sa prébende
de chanoine et à sa fortune.
Celle-là, il la garda,
comme de force, jusqu'à ce que ses fonctions de confesseur lui eussent rendu
impossible l'assistance au chœur.
Mais celle-ci, il ne
tarda pas à la disperser tout entière aux mains des pauvres. Et quand il
mourut, le 23 Mai 1764, non pas dans la belle maison dont il avait hérité, mais
dans une humble chambre de l'hôpital de la Trinité des pèlerins, il ne
possédait plus que trois ou quatre meubles, un pauvre bréviaire qu'il donna à
des amis, et son lit, qu'il légua à une pauvresse, en réservant toutefois
quelques planches pour son cercueil.
JEAN-BAPTISTE DE ROSSI
Prêtre italien, Saint
1698-1764
Giovanni-Battista de
Rossi, en français Jean-Baptiste de Rossi, naquit le 22 février 1698, à
Voltaggio, petite ville du diocèse de Gênes. Giovanni-Battista était le
neuvième et dernier enfant d'une famille modeste. Son père, Charles de Rossi,
qui avait une foi très profonde, veillait de près, tant qu'il vécut, à
l'éducation religieuse de ses enfants.
Giovanni-Battista était
un jeune adolescent quand deux nobles génois, Jean Scorza et Maria Cambiasi, sa
femme, qui étaient de passage à Voltaggio, furent charmés par sa gentillesse.
Et ils demandèrent à son père l'autorisation de l'emmener avec eux, à Gênes,
comme page. Giovanni resta avec eux pendant trois ans. Au bout de trois ans,
sur les conseils d'un de ses oncles, capucin à Rome et de son cousin Lorenzo de
Rossi, chanoine de Sainte-Marie-in-Cosmedin, une belle église de Rome, Giovanni
se rendit à Rome, et son oncle capucin l'inscrivit au Collège romain tenu par
les pères Jésuites.
Au collège des Jésuites
de Rome, Giovanni-Battista se montra immédiatement un brillant élève. De plus,
il se faisait remarquer par sa piété active, son amabilité, sa gentillesse, et
surtout une joie qui entraînait ses compagnons à prier et à visiter les pauvres
malades. Très vite Giovanni-Battista comprit qu'il devait être prêtre. Mais
souffrant de crises d'épilepsie, il ne put être ordonné, qu'après avoir obtenu
une dispense, en 1721. Dès lors, commença son admirable vie d'apôtre des
pécheurs, hommes et femmes, et des pauvres. Rapidement on le compara à saint
Philippe Néri et à saint Vincent de Paul.
Giovanni-Battista voulait
devenir très vite un grand saint; aussi multiplia-t-il les pénitences.
Cependant ses excès de pénitence, en particulier sur l'alimentation, nuirent
gravement à sa santé qui restera désormais fragile. Il ne pouvait plus
poursuivre régulièrement ses études. Il comprendra plus tard que c'est l'amour
qui transforme les cœurs et non les mortifications excessives. "Apprenez
de mon exemple, conseillera-t-il à des séminaristes, à ne pas vous
fier aveuglément à votre jugement propre mais à prendre conseil de votre
confesseur avant d'embrasser un exercice."
Mais quelle fut ensuite
la vie spirituelle de Giovanni? Son plus grand désir était de marcher sur le
chemin de la sainteté et d'y entraîner les autres. Mais pour cela, il devait
vivre une vie intense d'union à Dieu. En conséquence, chaque matin il passait
une heure en méditation surtout de l'Évangile. Puis il recommandait à Dieu son
travail et les besoins des âmes. Le soir, il prenait encore une demi-heure pour
l'oraison mentale, principalement sur la vie des saints. Zélé pour la prière du
bréviaire, il encourageait ses confrères à ne pas le remettre aux temps libres
mais à réciter, autant que possible, les différents Offices aux heures qui leur
correspondent. Quand il sera chanoine, il montrera une grande fidélité à la
récitation chorale de l'Office divin.
En 1737, son cousin, don
Lorenzo décéda, et Jean-Baptiste, sur l'ordre de son confesseur, devint
chanoine à sa place. Héritier de don Lorenzo, il vendit la somptueuse maison de
son cousin et en distribua le prix aux pauvres. Quant à lui, il s'installa à
proximité de l'église dans une espèce de grenier appartenant à la communauté.
Dans l'église se trouvait une image miraculeuse de la Sainte Vierge pour
laquelle Jean-Baptiste avait une grande dévotion. Sous son influence, les
chanoines ajoutèrent à leur Office le chant des litanies de la Sainte Vierge.
En 1739, l'évêque d'Orte,
le vénérable Tenderini l'orienta vers la direction des âmes. Il s'y révéla un
directeur et un confesseur exceptionnel. Mais Giovanni-Battista continuait à
évangéliser les pauvres bergers de la campagne romaine qui venaient à Rome pour
y vendre leurs produits. Dès l'aurore il était près d'eux et gagnait leur
confiance, et il orientait vers Dieu ces âmes frustes peu soucieuses des choses
éternelles. Pendant longtemps il visita l'hospice de Santa-Galla, fondé en 1650
et où don Vaselli, réunissait des pauvres abandonnés qui avaient besoin
d'instruction religieuse. L'hospice de Sainta-Galla était animé par une pieuse
union d'ecclésiastiques qui se vouaient à l'accueil des enfants abandonnés pour
les instruire de la doctrine chrétienne. Après la mort de Don Vaselli,
Giovanni-Battista lui succéda. Il s'y dévouera pendant tout le reste de sa vie.
Enfin, il voulut donner aux pauvres filles qui erraient sans domicile dans les
rues de Rome un asile au moins pour la nuit. Il fonda pour elles l'hospice
Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, dirigé par une prieure et une sous-prieure.
En souvenir des peines
que Notre-Seigneur avait endurées en prison lors de sa Passion,
Giovanni-Battista visitait les détenus. Interrogé sur son assiduité, il
répondait: "C'est pour les faire sortir de l'enfer intérieur où ils
sont: une fois leur conscience soulagée, les peines de la détention deviennent
plus faciles à accepter et ainsi ils en arrivent à les supporter pour
l'expiation de leurs fautes." Il obtint pour les femmes prisonnières
qu'un établissement leur soit réservé, administré par des femmes pieuses et
charitables. Toutes ces preuves de la charité de Giovanni-Battista, il les
puisait dans un amour de Jésus-Eucharistie qui s'épanouissait en un oubli
absolu de lui-même.
Mais la santé de Giovanni
devenait de plus en plus précaire. Malgré tout il continuait à confesser, à
prêcher, et à consoler et à encourager ceux qui venaient le trouver. Enfin, le
23 mai 1764, Jean-Battista de Rossi décédait. Il avait 66 ans. Il fut béatifié
par le pape Pie IX, le 13 mai 1860; et canonisé le 8 décembre 1881, par Léon
XIII.
Voyons maintenant les
orientations spirituelles vers lesquelles Giovanni-Battista de Rossi conduisait
les personnes qui venaient à lui. Tout d'abord, il s'efforçait, quand cela
était possible, de régulariser, les situations matrimoniales désordonnées. Ses
exhortations au confessionnal, fortes et persuasives, obtenaient de beaux
résultats: célébration du sacrement de mariage, ou bien, séparation définitive
des concubins. Pourtant, pour le bien des pénitents, il refusait parfois
l'absolution à ceux qui manquaient de contrition, refusaient de se retirer des
occasions de pécher ou ne cherchaient pas à prendre les moyens indispensables
pour sortir du péché. Il affirmait souvent: "Les prêtres ne devraient
jamais se résigner à voir les confessionnaux désertés ni se contenter de
constater la désaffection des fidèles pour ce sacrement."
En 1748, en raison de ses
nombreuses difficultés de santé, le chanoine Giovanni-Battista de Rossi
s'installa dans la communauté sacerdotale de la Trinité-des-Pèlerins, tout en
continuant son ministère à Sainte-Marie-in-Cosmedin, en particulier les jours
de marché où les paysans, qui avaient apporté leurs produits pour les vendre,
profitaient de l'occasion pour se confesser.
Jean-Baptiste de Rossi
s'efforçait aussi d'aider les prêtres dans leur vie spirituelle, et il
s'efforçait d'entretenir les amitiés sacerdotales. Il avait toujours soin de ne
pas parler mal des autres ecclésiastiques et des membres de la hiérarchie. Il
demandait aux prêtres "une grande fidélité à leur vocation qui exige
courage et confiance." Et il leur demandait d'être pleins de
sollicitude les uns avec les autres. Il précisait: "Les moments de
prière et d'étude en commun, le partage des exigences de la vie et du travail
sacerdotal sont une part nécessaire de votre vie. Il est important que vous
vous aidiez réciproquement par le moyen de la prière et par des conseils et des
discernements utiles."
Durant les deux dernières
années de sa vie, la fièvre ne quittait plus Giovanni-Battista. En août
1762, sa santé était tellement délabrée qu'il dut aller refaire ses forces dans
la région du lac de Nemi. Là, l'épilepsie de sa jeunesse réapparut avec des
crises violentes. Le 8 septembre 1763, il se fit conduire à
Sainte-Marie-in-Cosmedin pour y célébrer la Nativité de Marie. Il affirme à ses
confrères: "Priez pour moi. Je ne reviendrai plus ici: c'est l'ultime
fête que je célèbre avec vous."
Paulette Leblanc
SOURCE : http://nova.evangelisation.free.fr/leblanc_de_rossi.htm
San Giovanni Battista de Rossi
Also
known as
John Baptist de Rossi
John Baptist Rossi
John Baptist de Rubeis
Profile
One of four children born
to Charles de Rossi and Frances Anfossi. Taken by a wealthy noble couple
to Genoa, Italy for schooling.
There he met some Capuchin friars
who thought well of him, and helped him continue his education in Rome, Italy. Studied under
the Jesuits at
the Roman College at age 13. Member of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin and
the Ristretto of the Twelve Apostles. Epileptic.
His self-imposed acts of austerity nearly broke his health, and he never
completely regained his strength. Studied philosophy and theology under
the Dominicans. Ordained on 3 March 1721,
assigned to Rome.
Helped start a hospice
for homeless women near
Saint Galla’s hospice in Rome. Canon of
Santa Maria, Cosmedin in 1737;
he used his compensation from the position to purchase an organ for the church.
Missioner and catechist to
the teamsters, farmers,
herdsmen, homeless, sick, beggars, prostitutes,
and prisoners of
the Campagna region. For many years, John was 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. John relented, and
soon became a sought after confessor in Rome;
he once said that the shortest road to heaven was to guide others there by
the confessional.
Sought after preacher.
Assigned as catechist to
many government and prison
officials, including the public hangman. Miracle worker.
Always had a special devotion to Saint Aloysius
Gonzaga.
Born
22
February 1698 at
Voltaggio, diocese of Genoa, Italy
23 May 1764 at
Trinita dei Pellegrini, Italy of
multiple strokes
relics initially
at Saints Trinita church
relics translated
to Saint John Baptist Rossi parish church
in Rome, Italy in 1965
13 May 1860 by Blessed Pope Pius
IX
8
December 1881 by Pope Leo
XIII
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of 1881, by Father William
Lloyd
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
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sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
MLA
Citation
“Saint Giovanni Battista
Rossi“. CatholicSaints.Info. 5 April 2024. Web. 22 May 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-baptist-rossi/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-baptist-rossi/
Giovanni Battista de
Rossi
A distinguished Christian
archaeologist, best known for his work in connection with the Roman
catacombs, born at Rome,
23 February, 1822; died at Castel Gandolfo on Lake Albano,
20 September, 1894. De Rossi, the modern founder of the science of Christian
archaeology, was well-skilled in secular archaeology, a master of
epigraphy, an authority on the ancient and medieval topography
of Rome,
an excellent historian, and a very productive and many-sided author. In
addition to his professional acquaintance with archaeology De Rossi had a
thorough knowledge of
law, philology, and theology.
He was the son of Commendatore Camillo Luigi De Rossi and Marianna Marchesa
Bruti, his wife, who had two sons, Giovanni and Michele Stefano. Two days after
birth Giovanni was baptized in
the parish church
of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and, according to Roman custom was confirmed while
still very young, by Cardinal Franzoni, Prefect of the Propaganda.
Up to 1838 De Rossi attended the preparatory department of the well-known
Jesuit institution, the Collegio Romano, and through his entire course ranked
as its foremost pupil. From 1838 to 1840 he studied philosophy there,
and jurisprudence (1840-44)
at the Roman University (Sapienza), where he was a disciple of the celebrated
professors Villani and Capalti. At the close of his university studies
he received, after a severe examination, the degree of doctor utriusque
juris ad honorem.
De Rossi showed so strong
an interest in Christian antiquity
that on his eleventh birthday his father wished
to give him the great work of Antonio Bosio, "La Roma Sotterranea".
In 1843, before he received the doctor's degree, he matured a plan for a
systematic and critical collection of all Christian
inscriptions. In 1841, notwithstanding the protests of his anxious father,
he visited, for the first time, under the guidance of the Jesuit Father Marchi,
one of the then much neglected catacombs.
After this De Rossi and Marchi pursued their archaeological studies together,
so that they were known as the inseparable friends", though the difference
in years was great. As soon as he had finished his studies De Rossi was
appointed scriptor at the Vatican Library and bore this modest but
honourable title, in which he took especial pride,
all his life. Great credit is due him for his careful cataloguing of hundreds
of Vatican manuscripts.
The free use of the treasures of the Vatican Library and archives was a rich
source of development for his intellectual powers,
especially in the sense of breadth and catholicity of interest. His
official duties were
not heavy, and he was able to carry on his private studies without hindrance.
In 1838, in company with his parents,
he went on his first journey and visited Tuscany,
where the innumerable treasures of art completely absorbed his attention.
During the summers of 1844-50 he visited the territory of the ancient Hernici
in Latium and also Naples;
in this way the knowledge he
attained of the period of the Roman Republic was not purely theoretical. In
1853 he travelled for the first time by himself and went again to Tuscany,
also to the Romagna, Lombardy,
and Venice.
In 1856 he visited Liguria, Piedmont, Switzerland, France,
and Belgium;
in 1858 he went again to Piedmont,
visited the western part of Switzerland,
and the district of the Rhine as far as Cologne; from Cologne he went by way of Aachen, Trier,
and Frankfort to Bavaria and Austria,
and back to Rome by
way of Venice and
the Romagna. On a second trip to France in
1862 he visited the northern part of that country, and after going for a short
time to London returned
by way of Paris and Switzerland to Rome.
In 1864 he went to Naples for
a second time, and in 1865 was in France for
the third time, visiting particularly the southern French cities. In 1868 he
was again in France,
and in 1869 and 1870 he went to Tuscany and
Umbria; in 1872-75 he explored the vicinity of Rome;
in 1876 and 1879 he investigated the treasures of Naples and
the surrounding country, and in 1878 he made a trip again to Venice and Lombardy.
These journeys of De
Rossi are of much importance for the proper appreciation of his scientific
labours. Such long and fatiguing expeditions were undertaken solely in order to
inspect museums, libraries,
galleries, archives, and other institutions of learning and art, to form
personal relations with the scholars of the countries visited, and to increase
the range of his mental outlook,
always fixed on a subject as a whole. De Rossi's extraordinary knowledge of
the most obscure monuments of the civilized countries of Europe,
and his thorough familiarity with manuscript sources,
made it possible for him, as undisputed leader and master, to guide the science of Christian
archaeology, during several decades, into new paths. These journeys help to
explain De Rossi's remarkable literary productiveness, when considered in
connection with his minute investigation of all the monuments, both on the
surface and underground, of the city of Rome and
the Roman Campagna. These investigations covered the ancient pagan life
of Rome,
the early Christian period,
also the Middle
Ages.
De Rossi's personal
relations with the leading scholars of Italy and
other countries began in his early youth. When he was fourteen the famous Cardinal
Mai, Librarian of the Holy
Roman Church, found him copying Greek inscriptions in the inscription
gallery of the Vatican and became greatly interested in the lad; the
acquaintance later ripened into a warm friendship. In 1847 began his connection
as a scholar with the famous epigraphist Bartolommeo Borghesi of San Marino; at
a later date Borghesi's works were issued at the expense of Napoleon
III under De Rossi's direction. A few years after forming the
acquaintance of Borghesi a correspondence was begun between De Rossi and
the Benedictine Dom
Pitra, of Solesmes,
later Cardinal,
and Librarian the Holy
Roman Church, which ended in a warm friendship with Pitra. This, however, led
to an estrangement between Leo
XIII and De Rossi. Father Bruzza, the learned Barnabite,
was also an intimate friend of De Rossi. Wilhelm Henzen, long director of the
German archaeological institute at Rome,
lived in friendship and daily communication with De Rossi for forty years. When
the Berlin Academy of Sciences, urged by Theodor Mommsen, undertook its
monumental publication, the "Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum", it sent
a flattering letter to De Rossi to request his co-operation. This led to an
intimate friendship with Mommsen. The latter's numerous collaborators on the
"Corpus", among them Edwin Bormann, the noted authority of epigraphy,
found De Rossi ever ready to assist and guide them. Martigny,
the editor of the Bullettino (see below), as well as Paul Allard, editor of the
French edition of "Roma Sotterranea", and Desbassyns de Richemont,
were all closely united to De Rossi by the interests of their common work. To
these must be added Louis Duchesne, the brilliant director of the Ecole
de Rome,
and collaborator with De Rossi on the recent edition (1894) of the
"Martyrologium Hieronymianum". Léopold Delisle, the celebrated
savant, palaeographer, and historian, for many years the head of the
Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris,
was a man of the same learned tastes as De Rossi; their meeting led to a very
active scientific correspondence, and later to a strong attachment, based on
their scholarly interests. When, about 1850, Edouard Le Blant formed the
acquaintance of De Rossi, he was totally ignorant of
archaeology, but an accidental remark of De Rossi led him to take up this science;
eventually he became a distinguished archaeologist and the director of the
Ecole de Rome.
Among German Catholics De
Rossi's closest friendship as a scholar was with Franz Xaver Kraus. The cool
reception he had from Döllinger,
whom he once met at Munich,
prevented the forming of any lasting relations. From 1884 Joseph Wilpert came
into closer relations with De Rossi, who, up to his death, gave this scholar
all the possible aid and showed the younger man the greatest friendship. The
same may be said of Johann Peter Kirsch, archaeologist, patrologist, and historian.
De Rossi also encouraged the labours of Anton de Waal, the founder and editor
of the "Römische Quartalschrift", and was a helpful friend to
numerous other German scholars. For many years De Rossi's relations were
especially intimate with Giuseppe Gatti, his assistant in various kinds of
learned work. Gatti's fine scholarship enabled De Rossi to carry on daily
confidential discussions of learned questions which, after the death of Henzen,
had apparently come to an end. Gatti continues De Rossi's labours in the
province of ancient inscriptions. Henry Stevenson, who died too soon, Mariano
Armellini, an enthusiast in archeology, Luigi Scagliosi, the numismatist,
Orazio Marucchi, a popularizer of Christian
archeology, Cosimo Stornaiolo, the "Grecian", besides many
other Italians,
among whom Gennaro Aspreno Galante of Naples deserves
to be named, found in De Rossi a fatherly friend and counsellor. Among his
English disciples and friends were especially J.
Spencer Northcote and W. R. Brownlow who made known to the
English-speaking world the results of De Rossi's scholarly investigations and
publications. For years Northcote and
Brownlow, and Lewis at Oxford,
were in constant correspondence with De Rossi.
Stress is thus laid on
the important personal acquaintance and friendships of De Rossi, in order to
emphasize with what skill he stimulated interest in Christian
archeology in all directions. Equally important, perhaps, were the
relations established by him in the years 1850-70 during which he conducted
many strangers, often of high rank, through the catacombs,
or acted as their guide among the monumental ruins of Rome.
The friendships thus made often secured for him the loan of monuments and
documents which otherwise would never have been sent, even temporarily to a
foreign country, but which were brought to him at Rome by
the diplomatic couriers of all countries, not excepting Russia,
using his opportunity to examine these objects at his leisure. The immediate
superiors of De Rossi in the Vatican Archives treated him always as a friend
and an equal, and allowed him entire freedom in all his studies. Pius
IX honoured him
with a fatherly affection, striking evidence of which was given on more than
one occasion. Though the science of Christian
archaeology was rather foreign to the mental temper
of Leo
XIII that pope often
showed that, on the proper occasion, he could do justice to
De Rossi's great reputation. In Rome De
Rossi was exceedingly popular; nearly all the educated citizens,
as well as the foreign residents, knew and honoured him.
Without some knowledge of
these facts De Rossi's learned labours and extraordinary success would be only
superficially understood.
By his peculiar training,
therefore, De Rossi was well fitted to understand sympathetically the
early Christian literature,
as well the rise and development of the Roman State as shown in the monuments
it has left. In regard to the Roman State, he never held the somewhat
mechanical and no longer undisputed theory of Mommsen. He penetrated also with
marvellous insight the growth of the primitive
Christian hierarchy. Amid his books and papers De Rossi pondered over the
ruins of the temples and
palaces of antiquity; reviewed his own subterranean explorations; followed the
early Christians in
their thoughts, wishes, hopes, and ideals; contemplated the triumph of
the Church,
liberated by Constantine
the Great and entering triumphantly the basilicas;
and gathered from yellowed manuscripts the
traditions that a learned multitude of pious and
painstaking monks had
written concerning the Christian past,
and in addition the accounts they have left us of their own times. In this way
De Rossi was soon universally acknowledged, even in his lifetime, as the prince
of Christian
archaeologists.
Owing to his
extraordinary literary productivity, which was the natural result of the
conditions outlined above, a distinction must be drawn between his minor and
his greater works. The list of his minor writings (monographs) begins in 1849
with the memoir: "Inscrizione onoraria di Nicomaco Flaviano", which
appeared in the Annali dell Instituto di corrispondenza archeologica (pp.
283-363). These archaeological and ecclesiastico-historical papers number 203,
not including the so-called literary letters in which De Rossi answered the
questions addressed him by various scholars. Most of these letters were given
publicity in books or periodicals by those to whom they were sent. Nor does
this total include an almost countless series of Latin inscriptions,
expressions of literary homage, congratulatory epigrams, etc. Most of the
monographs, often quite lengthy, appeared in "Bulletino dell Instituto di
corrispondenza archeologica"; "Bullettino archeologico
Napolitano"; "Revue archéologique"; "Bullettino della
commissione archeologica communale di Roma"; "Bibliothèque de l'école
des chartes"; "Ephemeris epigraphica"; "Studi e documenti
di storia e diritto"; "Dissertazioni dell accademia romana pontificia
di archeologia"; "Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'école
française de Rome"; "Römische Quartalschrift", and in other
Italian and foreign periodicals and reviews. A few of these papers appeared as
separate volumes or as learned tributes on anniversary occasions. They vary in
length from one to one hundred and thirty-two printed pages.
The titles of his larger
and monumental works are as follows:
"Inscriptiones
christianae Urbis Romae septimo saeculo antiquiores" (vol. I, Rome, 1861;
part I of vol. II, Rome, 1888); Giuseppe Gatti is completing this work (cf.
"Archivio dell R. Società Romana di storia patria", 1887, 696 sqq.; also
the same society's "Conferenze
pel corso di metodologia della storia", part III, Rome, 1888).
"La Roma Sotterranea
Cristiana" (vol. I with an atlas of forty plates, Rome, 1864; vol. II
with an atlas of sixty-two and A, B, C, D plates, Rome, 1867; vol. III with an
atlas of fifty-two plates, Rome, 1877). The plates for the fourth volume were
already printed in part when De Rossi died (see "Bullettino di archeologia
cristiana", 1864, I, 1864, 63-64; 1867, II, 89-90; 1876, III, 155--57).
"Bullettino di
archeologia cristiana"; the first series, in quarto, appeared in monthly
numbers (1863-69), with illustrations in the text and coloured plates; it
consisted of one hundred and twenty-six monographs and communications. The
second series, in octavo, appeared quarterly (1870-75), with twelve
lithographic plates in each volume, and contained altogether fifty-three
papers. The third series, also in octavo, appeared (1876-81), in quarterly numbers,
each volume having twelve lithographic plates; the papers numbered altogether
fifty-one. The fourth series, in octavo, appeared in yearly volumes (1882-89),
each volume having twelve lithographic plates; the six volumes contain
altogether forty-three papers. The fifth series, in octavo, appeared annually
(1889-94), with zincotype plates and illustrations in the text; the last number
was issued in 1894 by Giuseppe Gatti. The final volume of each series contained
a full index which De Rossi prepared with the greatest care.
"Musaici delle
chiese di Roma anteriori al secolo XV" (Rome, 1872), an imperial folio
consisting of chromolithographic plates with a text in French and Italian. The
work closed with the twenty-fifth number, issued after De Rossi's death.
"Codicum latinorum
bibliothecae Vaticanae", vol. X, Pt. I, Nos. 7245-8066, Pt. II, Nos.
8067-8471; vol. XI, Nos. 8472-9019; vol. XII, Nos. 9020-9445; vol. XIII,
Nos. 9446-9849. The indexes to vols. XI, XII, XIII, "Codicum lat. Vat."
are: Pt. I, index of authors; Pt. II, index of places, things, and persons.
These manuscript indexes
are used as reference books in the Vatican Library.
"Inscriptiones Urbis
Romae latinae. Collegerunt Gulielmus Henzen et Johannes Baptista de
Rossi. Ediderunt Eugenius Bormann et Gulielmus Henzen" (Berlin,
1876--). This constitutes the sixth volume of the "Corpus Inscriptionum
Latinarum consilio et auctoritate academiae litterarum regiae Borussicae
editum" (Berlin). The invitation to De Rossi to act as one of the leading
editors was given 22 January, 1854.
The five annual reports
(1854-58), concerning the preparatory work for the above-mentioned "Corpus
Inscriptionum", which appeared in the monthly bulletins of the Royal
Academy of Science of Berlin.
The other annual reports have not been published; this is also the case with De
Rossi's synopses of the epigraphical manuscripts in
the libraries of Italy, France, Germany Switzerland,
and Austria. The
last named summaries are of the greatest importance.
"Oeuvres complètes
de Bartolommeo Borghesi" (9 vols., Paris, 1862-84). Napoleon
III entrusted the task of collecting and editing the works and letters
of the celebrated Borghesi to a committee of French, German, and Italian
scholars, among whom De Rossi may be said to have been the most important and
assiduous.
"Martyrologium
Hieronymianum", prepared and edited in collaboration with Louis Duchesne
in vol. 1, November, of the Acta SS. (Brussels, 1894). This edition is a
masterpiece and most of the objections raised against it by German scholars are
of little importance.
The works briefly
described above give some conception of the learned labours De Rossi carried on
during his life. They are proofs of
the genius with which he grasped a subject, of his extraordinary industry, his
learned mastery of the most varied subjects, and the unwavering determination
with which he unearthed obscure points; they also show the triumphs with which
his toils were so richly crowned.
The estimation in which his work was field is proved by
the two international celebrations in 1882 and 1892 upon his sixtieth and
seventieth birthdays.
De Rossi's father died in
1850, and his mother in 1861. In the latter year he married Costanza, daughter
of Count Pietro Bruno di San Giorgio Tornafort of Piedmont,
by whom he had two daughters; Marianna, the elder, died in 1864. The second,
Natalia, born in 1866, married the Marchese Filippo Ferraioli. De Rossi's
brother Michele Stefano was his zealous assistant
in the exploration of the catacombs;
the geological questions connected with these subterranean places of burial and
all kindred subjects are treated by Michele in separate papers in "Roma
Soterranea". He also prepared the very accurate plans of the catacombs.
De Rossi was a portly man
of fine appearance, somewhat over the middle height. The full,
well-proportioned face was surrounded by a grayish beard which
left the chin free. The clear, calm eyes lost much of their strength, so that
he could not always supervise properly the work of his painters and
this explains the numerous inaccurate illustrations in his works which Wilpert
has corrected. The smoothly brushed hair gave greater prominence to the high
domed forehead. In walking De Rossi bent slightly forward, which mannerism gave
to his gait an appearance of much deliberateness. On the street he was
generally busy with a book or pamphlet. De Rossi heard Mass every day and went
to Communion nearly every week. Generous, unobtrusive charity was a second
nature with him. Every evening he gathered all the members of his household
about him for the recitation of the rosary.
Although he very often received tempting offers to desert the
cause of the Holy
See and join the party of United Italy,
he rejected all such proposals, even when they came from the highest
authorities. On this point he was absolutely immovable. A few months after the
international celebration of his seventieth birthday in 1892, De Rossi had an
attack of apoplexy from which he never entirely recovered. Unable after this to
use his right hand he continued to write with the left for the
"Bullettino" and in making the corrections to the
"Martyrologium". But his days were numbered. In the summer of 1894 Leo
XIII offered him the use of an apartment in the papal palace
at Castel Gandolfo, where he peacefully passed away, a true son
of the Church.
He was buried in
the Agro Verano (general cemetery) at Rome.
Baumgarten, Paul Maria. "Giovanni
Battista de Rossi." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 24 May
2020 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04739c.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael C. Tinkler.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04739c.htm
Église
San Giovanni Battista de Rossi, Rome, Appio Latino
Chiesa
di San Giovanni Battista de Rossi, dans le quartier Appio-Latino sur la via Cesare Baronio
Chiesa di San Giovanni
Battista de' Rossi (Roma)
Chiesa
di San Giovanni Battista de Rossi, dans le quartier Appio-Latino sur la via Cesare Baronio
Chiesa di San Giovanni
Battista de' Rossi (Roma)
Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista de Rossi,, dans
le quartier Appio-Latino sur la via Cesare Baronio
St. John Baptist de Rossi
Feastday: May 23
Patron: of Voltaggio
Birth: February 22, 1698
Death: May 23, 1764
Beatified: May 13, 1860 by Pope Pius IX
Canonized: December 8, 1881 by Pope Leo XIII
St. John Baptist de de
Rossi, also known as Giovanni Battista de' Rossi, was born on February 22, 1698
in Voltaggio, Italy. He was the fourth child of Charles de Rossi and Frances
Anfossi, known to be a holy and faith filled couple.
Though John's family was
not financially wealthy, they were rich in faith. Through their guidance and a
wonderful education, John learned to excel in his living faith, piety and
gentleness.
A pair of priests, Scipio
Gaetano and Giuseppe Repetto, saw great potential within John and took his
early education and faith formation as a part of their apostolate, taking him
under their spiritual care.
When he was 10-years-old,
John met with a wealthy, noble couple from Genoa after Mass. They, too, noted
his gifts and potential. So, they took him in as a page, after receiving his
father's approval. John was taken to Genoa to attend school until 1711.
In 1710, John's father
suddenly passed away. His mother pleaded for him to return home, but John was
convinced that the Lord wanted him to finish his education in Genoa.
In 1711, John was called
to Rome by his cousin, the canon of St. Mary in Cosmedin, Lorenzo de Rossi.
Lorenzo suggested John complete his studies there at the Collegium Romanum
under the guidance of the Jesuits.
John continued to thrive
in his studies. His natural talents, spiritual gifts, Christian virtue and
willingness to apply himself to his studies made him the model student.
He studied philosophy and
theology under the Dominicans at the Dominican College of Saint Thomas.
During this time, John
joined the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin and the Ristretto of the Twelve
Apostles. Both groups were comprised of lay Christian faithful especially
dedicated to Christian prayer and service. He led the members of the groups in
meetings, group prayer and outreach to the poor, including visits to the
hospitals.
John's desire to grow in
holiness sometimes led him to going overboard in his practices of voluntary
mortification and his austerity nearly ruined his health. He also began to have
fits of epilepsy. He struggled with these for the rest of his life.
John wanted dearly to
become a priest. Under normal circumstances, his epileptic fits would have
excluded him from the priesthood. However, he was granted a special
dispensation. After ordination as a deacon, he was ordained to the priesthood
on March 8, 1721. John believed he had reached his goal and was deeply grateful
to the Lord for the vocation of priesthood. So, as an expression of gratitude,
he vowed to not accept any ecclesiastical benefits unless commanded to do so
out of obedience to his religious superiors.
He devoted himself to
serving Rome's sick, homeless and prostitutes. He would visit the sick and poor
in the hospitals by day, and by night he ministered to the street people. He
reached out to assist homeless women and helped to found a hospice for them
near Saint Galla. He also aided prisoners and workers.
John spoke to the dying
about Jesus Christ, leading them to salvation. He desperately wanted to relieve
them of their suffering. None of the sick repulsed him, no matter how bad their
illness or symptoms because he saw Jesus in them.
In one instance, a young
man who was ill and dying from syphilis turned away from John's attention, out
of shame. However, as John showed his selfless heart and helped him with his
bedpan, the man finally took the time to listen to John's words and was able to
make a good confession before his death.
Other priests were in awe
of John's holiness and manner of life. They saw that with only a few kind words
he could turn people's lives around.
During one of his
sermons, John stated to his fellow priests:
"Ignorance is the
leprosy of the soul. How many such lepers exist in the church here in Rome,
where many people don't even know what's necessary for their salvation? It must
be our business to try to cure this disease. The souls of our neighbors are in
our hands, and yet how many are lost through our fault? The sick die without
being properly prepared because we have not given time or care enough to each
particular case. Yet with a little more patience, a little more perseverance, a
little more love, we could have led these poor souls to heaven."
"The poor come to
church tired and distracted by their daily troubles. If you preach a long
sermon they can't follow you. Give them one idea that they can take home, not
half a dozen, or one will drive out the other, and they will remember none."
In 1735, John became
titular canon at St. Mary in Cosmedin. Following the death of his cousin in
1737, obedience forced John to accept the canonry. However, John refused the
house belonging with the title, and used funds from selling the home toward his
cause with the poor.
John's illness continued
to impact his life, as he was afraid of entering the confessional because the
possibility of having a seizure during the session. He became accustom to
sending the sinners he found to other priests.
In 1738, John became dangerously
ill and was sent to Civita Castellana to regain his health. While there, the
bishop residing in that location pushed him to hear confessions. After
reviewing his moral theology, John received the special faculty of hearing
confessions in any of Rome's churches.
From then on, John spent
countless hours hearing confessions from the poor and illiterate whom he sought
from hospitals and their homes.
John became the
"apostle of the abandoned," and became known as a second Philip Neri,
a hunter of souls. He preached five to six times a day in all kinds of places,
including churches, hospitals and prisons. He was also known for his strong
devotion to St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
In August 1762, the state
of his health became worse. John became worn out and his strength began to
deteriorate. His companions begged him to go to Lake Nemi to recover. While
there, he started having worse epileptic fits.
Two months later, he
returned to Rome. John rarely left his room, but in September 1763, he
celebrated Mass at Santa Maria in Cosmedin, telling those present that he would
be dying soon.
In December, he was found
in his room unconscious, after suffering a violent seizure. He remained
unconscious for a day. He was given Viaticum, the special prayers and reception
of the Holy Eucharist given to the gravely ill and dying. He was also given the
Anointing of the Sick, also called Last Rites when it is administered before
death.
However, John recovered
from his illness and went on to celebrate several more Masses. Soon later, his
health once again declined and he was confined to his bed.
John Baptist de Rossi
passed to the Lord whom he loved with such true devotion on May 23, 1764 in his
bedroom in Trinita de Pellegrini.
His body was buried in
that church under a marble slab at the altar of the Blessed Virgin. His remains
were relocated in 1965 to a new church named in his honor.
Pope Pius VI began the
cause of canonization for John Baptist de Rossi in 1781, but both the French
Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars created setbacks. Years later in 1859, Pope
Pius IX resumed his cause and attributed two miracles to John's intercession.
St. John Baptist de Rossi
was beatified on May 13, 1860 by Pope Pius IX and canonized on December 8, 1881
by Pope Leo XIII.
He is the patron saint of
Voltaggio and his feast day is celebrated on May 23.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=229
Book of
Saints – John Baptist dei Rossi
Article
(Saint)
(May
23) (18th
century) An Italian Saint,
born near Genoa,
who, educated in Rome and ordained priest, became a model of holy living to the
secular clergy of the Eternal City. He was appointed Canon in one of the Roman
churches, and devoted all his time and powers to his priestly work among the
people, living himself a life of prayer and penance. He was especially
admirable for his whole-hearted sacrifice of self in the helping of the poor. He
died A.D. 1764, at the age of sixty, and was canonised by Pope Leo XIII A.D.
1881.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate. “John
Baptist dei Rossi”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
7 June 2017. Web. 24 May 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-john-baptist-dei-rossi/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-john-baptist-dei-rossi/
New Catholic Dictionary – Saint John Baptist de Rossi
Article
Confessor, born Voltaggio, Italy, 1698; died Rome, Italy, 1764. He was ordained in 1721, but having through indiscreet practises of mortification contracted spells of epilepsy, he fulfilled the duties of the sacred ministry by instructing and preaching to the poor of the Campagna, thus becoming known as the apostle of the abandoned, and winning many sinners to repentance. In 1731 he established near Saint Galla a house of refuge for the homeless. In 1735 he was compelled to accept a canonry at Saint Mary in Cosmedin, vacated by the death of a relative. He was subsequently induced to hear confessions and was given the unusual faculty to do so in any of the churches of Rome, in the exercise of which privilege he displayed extraordinary zeal. Canonized, 1881. Relics in Saints Trinita. Feast, 23 May.
MLA
Citation
“Saint John Baptist de
Rossi”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info.
7 June 2017. Web. 24 May 2020. <https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-john-baptist-de-rossi/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-john-baptist-de-rossi/
Pictorial Lives of the Saints – Saint John Baptist de Rossi
Article
Saint John Baptist de Rossi is the first instance in modern times of the canonization as Confessor of a priest belonging to no religions Order or Congregation. He was born at Voltaggio, a little town about fifteen miles north of Genoa, February 22, 1698. From the first he was distinguished for his piety and purity. The parish church was his favorite resort, and thither he would hasten after the early morning class to serve as many Masses as he could. The gravity and modesty he showed in holy places struck all who saw him, and many declared he was like a little angel just come down from heaven and still full of the vision of God. When our Saint was ten years old, a wealthy couple of Genoa visited Voltaggio; attracted by the unaffected piety and winning ways of the boy, they obtained from his parents permission to adopt him, and took him to their palace, where he was treated as their son.
After a residence of three years in Genoa, he removed, with his mother’s consent, his father having died in the meanwhile, to Rome, where his cousin, Laurence de Rossi, was the Canon of S. Maria in Cosmedin. There he began at once to attend the lower classes of the Roman College, and there was no more industrious or saintly student to be found. At the age of eighteen he received the tonsure, and the following year minor orders. He was then selected for a lengthened course of scholastic theology; but in striving to purify his soul he overtaxed his strength, and one day, while devoutly hearing Mass, he fell on the floor of the church in a swoon. From that time out he was subject to epileptic fits, which rendered his projected studies impracticable. This being the case, our Saint looked elsewhere. A course of lectures on the text of Saint Thomas, then being delivered, was attracting no little attention, and a large number of students attended. As the labor of following the course was comparatively light, John Baptist joined the class. In spite of his feeble health he applied himself most industriously, and still practised such mortifications as were prudent. Walking along the streets, his eyes were never raised from the ground, and in the coldest weather he wore no gloves.
When he was twenty-three years old he was ordained a priest. The first shape his charity assumed was an active interest in the young students who flock to Rome from every part of the Catholic world. He organized special services for them, preached sermons specially suited to them, and gathered them about him in his visits to the hospitals, to assist him in soothing and relieving the sick and dying. This charitable work over, they would enter a church and recite the Rosary aloud, after which they would enjoy themselves at some innocent game.
Another charity which attracted our Saint was the spiritual care of the drovers and cattlemen who frequented the market-places. The most of these were ignorant and depraved, caring for no one and with no one to care for them. By visiting their haunts at early dawn, before their work began, John Baptist won them by his kind words, and at last led many to the confessional who had not been there in years, and some who had never been. Hitherto he had not heard confessions himself, but now, at the instance of his bishop, he applied for and received faculties for the administration of the Sacrament of Penance.
In February, 1735, John Baptist, much against his own inclination, was appointed assistant to his cousin, Laurence de Rossi, who was growing feeble; and when, two years after, that good man died, his property and canonry were left to our Saint. Within a fortnight the new Canon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin had got rid of a great part of the property. He entered upon the duties of his new office at once, and soon gathered round him crowds of devout worshippers. His confessional was besieged by eager penitents, but always the poorest and most ignorant. The rich and noble he managed to put off, saying they could find confessors in plenty. He would never permit the confessional to be a medium for almsgiving. He himself would not bestow an alms from that tribunal on a penitent, no matter how poor, nor would he there accept a present from the rich, as he feared it might deter him from speaking plainly and freely. His devotion to the poor and ignorant was remarkable. He sought out the most abject and abandoned people, and pursued this work of Christian charity with such zeal as to merit the title of “Venator Animarum,” the hunter of souls. In 1740, when Pope Benedict XIV. determined to institute catechism classes for the instruction of criminals serving short sentences, he found an able assistant in our Saint. He had no difficulty in winning the hearts of the convicts from the start, and there was a perceptible reformation wrought in a short time.
The endless labor and the severe penances which the Saint imposed on himself finally told on his delicate frame, and on May 23, 1764, a stroke of apoplexy ended his mortal life, and brought him the endless bliss of the presence of God, for which his soul had so long yearned.
After the death of the holy man many miracles bore witness to his sanctity. Among others was the case of Sister Mary Theresa Leonori, of the Convent of Saint Cecilia at Rome, who in 1859 suffered from a throat disease which the best medical authorities pronounced incurable. Wasted and enfeebled by her sickness, entirely deprived of speech, suffering great pain, and unable to partake of any nourishment, her death was momentarily looked for. Human aid failing her, the pious Sister besought the help of Saint John Baptist, and Our Lord, to show His love for His faithful servant, deigned to work a miracle at the Saint’s intercession. Sister Mary Theresa was instantly cured and rose from her bed of suffering a well woman.
MLA
Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea.
“Saint John Baptist de Rossi”. Pictorial Lives of
the Saints, 1922. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 December 2018. Web. 24 May 2020. <https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-john-baptist-de-rossi/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-john-baptist-de-rossi/
St. John Baptist de Rossi
(Feast: May 23)
Giovanni Battista de
Rossi was born in the Piedmontese village of Voltaggio, in the diocese of
Genoa, and was one of four children. His parents, of modest means, were devout
and well esteemed.
A nobleman and his wife
vacationing in Voltaggio, and impressed with the ten-year-old John Baptist,
obtained permission from his parents to take him to live with them and be
trained in their house in Genoa.
After three years,
hearing of his virtues, John’s cousin, Lorenzo Rossi, Canon of Santa Maria in
Cosmedin, invited him to join him in Rome. Thus John Baptist entered the Roman
Jesuit College at thirteen. Despite episodes of epilepsy, brought on by
excessive zeal in imposing harsh penances upon himself, he was granted a
dispensation and was ordained at the age of twenty-three.
From his student days he
loved visiting hospitals. Now, as a priest there was much more he could offer
suffering souls. He particularly loved the Hospice of St. Galla, a night
shelter for paupers. There he labored for forty years.
He also worked at the
hospital of Trinita dei Pellegrini and extended his assistance to other poor
such as cattlemen who came to market at the Roman forum. He had a great pity
for homeless women and girls and from the little that he made in Mass stipends,
and the 400 scudi sent to him by the Pope, he rented a refuge for them.
John Baptist was also
selected by Pope Benedict XIV to deliver courses of instruction to prison
officials and other state servants. Among his penitents was the public hangman.
In 1731 Canon Rossi
obtained for his cousin a post of assistant priest at St. Maria in Cosmedin. He
was a great confessor to whom penitents flocked, and as a preacher, the saint
was also in demand for missions and retreats.
On the death of Canon
Rossi, Fr. John inherited his canonry, but applied the money attached to the
post to buy an organ, and hire an organist. As to the house, he gave it to the
chapter and went to live in the attic.
In 1763 St. John
Baptist’s health began to fail, and he was obliged to take up residence in the
hospital of Trinita dei Pellegrini. He expired after a couple of strokes on May
23, 1764 at sixty- six years of age. He died so poor that the hospital prepared
to pay for his burial. But the Church took over and he was given a triumphant
funeral with numerous clergy and religious, and the Papal choir, in attendance.
SOURCE : https://www.americaneedsfatima.org/Saints-Heroes/st-john-baptist-de-rossi.html
Saint John Baptist de
Rossi
Apr 28, 2015 /
Written by: America
Needs Fatima
FEAST MAY 23
Giovanni Battista de
Rossi was born in the Piedmontese village of Voltaggio, in the diocese of
Genoa, and was one of four children. His parents, of modest means, were devout
and well esteemed. A nobleman and his wife vacationing in Voltaggio, and
impressed with the ten-year-old John Baptist, obtained permission from his
parents to take him to live with them and be trained in their house in Genoa.
After three years,
hearing of his virtues, John’s cousin, Lorenzo Rossi, Canon of Santa Maria in
Cosmedin, invited him to join him in Rome. Thus John Baptist entered the Roman
Jesuit College at thirteen. Despite episodes of epilepsy, brought on by
excessive zeal in imposing harsh penances upon himself, he was granted a
dispensation and was ordained at the age of twenty-three.
From his student days he
loved visiting hospitals. Now, as a priest there was much more he could offer
suffering souls. He particularly loved the Hospice of St. Galla, a night
shelter for paupers. There he labored for forty years.
He also worked at the hospital
of Trinita dei Pellegrini and extended his assistance to other poor such as
cattlemen who came to market at the Roman forum. He had a great pity for
homeless women and girls and from the little that he made in Mass stipends, and
the 400 scudi sent to him by the Pope, he rented a refuge for them.
John Baptist was also
selected by Pope Benedict XIV to deliver courses of instruction to prison
officials and other state servants. Among his penitents was the public hangman.
In 1731 Canon Rossi
obtained for his cousin a post of assistant priest at St. Maria in Cosmedin. He
was a great confessor to whom penitents flocked, and as a preacher, the saint
was also in demand for missions and retreats.
On the death of Canon
Rossi, Fr. John inherited his canonry, but applied the money attached to the
post to buy an organ, and hire an organist. As to the house, he gave it to the
chapter and went to live in the attic.
In 1763 St. John
Baptist’s health began to fail, and he was obliged to take up residence in the
hospital of Trinita dei Pellegrini. He expired after a couple of strokes on May
23, 1764 at sixty- six years of age. He died so poor that the hospital prepared
to pay for his burial. But the Church took over and he was given a triumphant
funeral with numerous clergy and religious, and the Papal choir, in attendance.
SOURCE : https://americaneedsfatima.org/articles/saint-john-baptist-de-rossi
San Giovanni Battista de Rossi
San Giovanni Battista de'
Rossi Sacerdote
Voltaggio, Genova, 22
febbraio 1698 - 23 maggio 1764
Nacque nel 1698 a Voltaggio, in provincia di Genova ma a 13 anni, per motivi di studio, si trasferì a Roma nella casa di uno zio sacerdote, canonico a Santa Maria in Cosmedin. A Roma frequentò il liceo presso i gesuiti del Collegio Romano avviandosi agli ordini sacri. In quel periodo fu colto dai primi attacchi di epilessia, malattia che lo avrebbe fatto soffrire per tutta la vita. Venne ordinato sacerdote l'8 marzo 1721 e da allora diede ancora più slancio al suo apostolato, avviato in precedenza, tra gli studenti, i poveri e gli emarginati. Sulla scia di quell'impegno nacque la Pia Unione dei sacerdoti secolari di Santa Galla dal nome di un ospizio maschile da lui diretto. Giovanni ne volle uno anche per donne e lo dedicò a Luigi Gonzaga santo cui era devotissimo. Eletto canonico di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, venne dispensato dall'obbligo del coro per potersi dedicare con maggiore libertà ai suoi impegni apostolici. Negli ultimi mesi di vita l'epilessia si aggravò costringendolo a un vero e proprio calvario. Morì il 23 maggio 1764. Fu canonizzato da Leone XIII l'8 dicembre 1881. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Giovanni = il Signore è benefico, dono del Signore, dall'ebraico
Martirologio Romano: A Roma, san Giovanni Battista de Rossi, sacerdote, che accolse i poveri e i più emarginati, insegnando loro la sacra dottrina.
Non è nato per essere capo: a lui basta ubbidire e lavorare sodo, sia da laico come poi da sacerdote. Giovanni Battista de’ Rossi è uno dei pochi sopravvissuti di una famiglia segnata da troppi lutti: il papà muore prematuramente, e la maggior parte dei fratellini se ne va prima di raggiungere l’adolescenza. E’ nato nel 1698 a Voltaggio, nell’alessandrino, ma frequenta il genovese per le scuole che una famiglia benestante gli fa frequentare, perché chi lo avvicina resta incantato dalla sua intelligenza ma soprattutto dalla sua pietà e dalla dolcezza del suo carattere. Alla morte di papà alcuni sacerdoti, parenti o amici di famiglia, lo accolgono per carità e gli fanno proseguire gli studi e, di trasferimento in trasferimento, togliendo così alla famiglia il peso di una bocca in più da sfamare. arriva fino a Roma. Dove, com’è naturale, si prepara al sacerdozio, assecondando una vocazione che nutre fin da bambino, aiutato anche da un’intelligenza non comune che gli permette di completare in anticipo gli studi per cui è necessario ottenere dal papa la dispensa per l’ordinazione sacerdotale. Non aspetta però il sacerdozio per buttarsi nell’apostolato: gli oratori romani e i gruppi studenteschi lo vedono protagonista attivo: mai con ruolo dirigenziale, solo e sempre come semplice gregario. E sono proprio i giovani a fargli corona alla prima messa, che celebra all’altare di San Luigi, nella chiesa di Sant’Ignazio, a marzo del 1721. Ormai la sua strada è tracciata: precedenza assoluta ai giovani, alla catechesi, alle fasce più deboli della Roma del suo tempo, ai malati che visita a domicilio per portare conforto cristiano e sostegno materiale. Un occhio di riguardo lo vuole avere anche per i confratelli sacerdoti, per i quali fonda la Pia Unione dei Sacerdoti Secolari: sostegno, arricchimento spirituale, aggiornamento culturale per un clero che a metà Settecento non brillava per cultura e preparazione teologica. Il resto della sua vita lo trascorre in confessionale: chiede ed ottiene la facoltà di confessare solo a 40 anni, ma da quel momento sarà questo il suo apostolato specifico, che porta i romani ad assediarlo nel confessionale per lunghissime ore ogni giorno ed a renderlo ricercatissimo per la direzione spirituale. C’è chi si domanda come faccia a reggere ad un così intenso ritmo di lavoro apostolico per le strade del quartiere del Campidoglio, sui pulpiti, nei confessionali, nei tuguri della povera gente, al letto degli ammalati. Tanto più che lui stesso non è la salute fatta persona, soggetto com’è a frequenti crisi epilettiche e tormentato da una fastidiosa malattia agli occhi: la sua vita vorticosa e la sua inarrestabile carità rappresentano il trionfo della volontà sulla fragilità fisica, dell’impegno apostolico sui limiti imposti dalla malattia. Nato da famiglia umile e povera, tale sceglie di restare fino alla morte, che sopraggiunge il 23 maggio 1764, ad appena 66 anni. Beatificato da Pio IX nel 1860, sarà proclamato santo da Leone XIII nel 1881.
Autore: Gianpiero
Pettiti
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/54450
Giovanni Battista de'
Rossi
(1698-1764)
BEATIFICAZIONE:
- 13 maggio 1860
- Papa Pio IX
CANONIZZAZIONE:
- 08 dicembre 1881
- Papa Leone XIII
- Basilica Vaticana
RICORRENZA:
- 23 maggio
Sacerdote, che accolse i
poveri e i più emarginati, insegnando loro la sacra dottrina
La sua vita vorticosa e la sua inarrestabile carità rappresentano il trionfo della volontà sulla fragilità fisica
Giovanni Battista de'
Rossi nasce il 22 febbraio 1698 a Voltaggio (Genova), all’età di tredici anni
circa, si reca a Roma da un cugino sacerdote, canonica di santa Maria in
Cosmedin, per studiare lettere e poi filosofia presso il Collegio Romano. Nel
1714 decide di diventare sacerdote e fin dall’inizio si dedica instancabilmente
alla preghiera, allo studio e al servizio in mezzo ai giovani studenti. Questo
intenso ritmo, però, fa emergere in lui i primi sintomi dell’epilessia, che
sarà la causa della sua morte. Viene ordinato prete l’8 marzo 1721 e celebra la
sua prima messa sulla tomba di san Luigi Gonzaga, nella chiesa dei Gesuiti.
Continua il suo impegno
di apostolato senza risparmiarsi, accogliendo soprattutto i poveri e quanti
giungevano da lui, che ormai era considerato un santo. Fin dall’inizio del suo
cammino verso il sacerdozio si accosta all’ospizio di san Galla, fondato poco
dopo il 1650 da Marco Anastasio Odescalchi, cugino di Innocenzo XI. Lo
organizza introducendovi tempi di preghiera e garantendo tempi di colloquio per
i malati. Nell’adiacente chiesa crea la Pia Unione di Sacerdoti secolari di san
Galla, a cui molti sacerdoti partecipano per poter crescere spiritualmente.
Accanto a questo Ospizio, ne fonda un secondo dedicato alle donne e intitolandolo
a san Luigi, ancora oggi presente e operante.
Muore il 23 maggio 1764 e
viene beatificato da Pio IX, che era stato presidente della Pia Unione dei
Sacerdoti di san Galla. Canonizzato l’8 dicembre 1881, è ora sepolto presso la
chiesa della Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini in Roma.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/giovanni-battista-de-rossi.html
Voir aussi : https://www.clairval.com/lettres/fr/2011/04/24/6270411.htm
