Sunday, May 5, 2024

The Great Cloud of Witnesses

St. Giovanni Battista de' Rossi
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M.

St. Giovanni Battista de' Rossi

May 23

Giovanni Battista de' Rossi (22 February 1698 – 23 May 1764) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest. He served as the canon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin after his priest cousin died, and he was a popular confessor despite his initial fears that his 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.

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 and canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881. His feast day is kept on May 23 on which day he died in 1764 after suffering multiple strokes.

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