GIOVANNI BATTISTA de' ROSSI, saint. — Born on 22 Feb. 1698 at Voltaggio (Genoa) to Carlo and Francesca Anfossi, died in Rome on 23 May 1764. At the age of ten he went to Genoa as a page for the noble Scorza family, where, admired for his piety and innocent conduct by two Capuchins passing through on their way to Rome, he was summoned to the Eternal City by an uncle, provincial of the same order, and by a cousin who was a canon of S. Maria in Cosmedin. He arrived in Rome in 1711 at the age of thirteen and remained there for more than fifty-three years, never leaving except for brief periods and to nearby places such as Ariccia, Albano, Civita Castellana, and Tivoli.
Taking up residence with his cousin Don Lorenzo, he attended the schools of the Collegio Romano, founded by Gregory XIII (the Roman Archigymnasium), which at that time attracted a large number of young secular Italians and foreigners, so that the saint could say that he had encountered there the best of the Catholic world. After completing courses in humanities and sciences, always achieving top grades, he distinguished himself in philosophy by publicly defending a thesis with much praise. Upon entering Theology, he suffered a severe breakdown and the first attacks of epilepsy, which afflicted him throughout his life. His weakened constitution resulted from an imprudent penitential practice in eating and drinking, which he had undertaken to correct certain failings of the tongue to which he was prone due to his jovial and mocking nature. This experience served to instruct others, for later he advised young people not to undertake excessive penances. Despite this, he did not interrupt his studies but continued them more easily under the Dominicans at S. Maria sopra Minerva, who, using the Summa of St. Thomas as their text, did not require their students to take written notes.
Meanwhile, the saint continued to attend the Congregation known as della Scaletta in the Collegio Romano, to which he had been admitted at the age of fourteen, where he served as sacristan and where, under the guidance of the renowned educator Fr. Francesco Maria Galluzzi, S.J., he developed a devotion to St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Fr. Galluzzi introduced him to the restricted circle of the Holy Apostles, and, becoming its confessor for over twenty years, launched him into apostolic work. Ordained priest on 19 March 1721, G.B. on the same day took a vow never to seek any ecclesiastical benefice nor to accept it unless imposed upon him by obedience, and he joined the restricted circle of priests at the Oratory of the Caravita, beginning from then a life entirely devoted to the priestly ministry. He dedicated himself to the spiritual education of the poor at S. Dorotea near Ponte Sisto, at Palazzo Chigi, at S. Galla, at Ripa Grande, visiting the sick in hospitals, and preaching missions to the people. At the age of thirty-nine he was made canon of S. Maria in Cosmedin in place of his deceased uncle, and immediately sold and donated to the poor and to pious works all the inheritance he had received, moving to live at the Trinità dei Pellegrini. There he closed his days after violent epileptic attacks. He was a confessor and considered among the most esteemed of the Roman clergy. He valued and recommended the ministry of confession as one of the most important; in his last twenty years he devoted from four to five hours daily, and sometimes eleven or twelve, to this ministry.
The ordinary processes for beatification were initiated in 1781 under Pius VI, he was beatified by Pius IX in 1860, and canonized on 8 Dec. 1881 by Leo XIII. Feast day: 23 May.