Today we commemorate Sts Jane Thouret, John Baptist Rossi and William of Rochester, who each in their own way embodied the commandment to love one's neighbour and experienced the perils of a life on the road.
St. Jane Thouret joined the Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul and worked in several Parisian hospitals before being ordered to return to secular life during the revolution. She refused and attempted to flee, only to be captured and severely beaten. Escaping by foot to her own village she cared for the sick but was forced to flee to Switzerland, where she continued her ministry among its Catholic exiles. Anti-Catholic feeling forced her into Germany but she eventually returned to Switzerland where she founded the Institute of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, which quickly expanded throughout Europe.
St. John Baptist Rossi studied successively under the Franciscans, Jesuits and Dominicans. As a result of his severe mortifications he developed epilepsy but notwithstanding which he completed his studies and was ordained a priest for Rome. Among his first acts were to start a hospice and purchase an organ. He exercised his ministry amongst farmers, laborers, the poor, prostitutes and prisoners but avoided hearing their confessions in case he had a seizure. His bishop eventually convinced him of this obligation and he became a sought after confessor. St John Baptist was also a renowned preacher, who sought the most abandoned souls of Rome in order to instruct them in the faith.
St. William of Rochester was a baker, who adopted an abandoned child he found outside the church after Mass. After teaching the boy his trade, they embarked on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land but along the way his adopted son turned on him, clubbing him to death and stealing his possessions. His body was found by a madwoman who adorned it with a floral wreath and was immediately cured, prompting local monks to inter his remains in Rochester Cathedral and build a shrine in his honour.
The shortest road to heaven is to guide others there by the confessional - St. John Baptist Rossi
St. Jane Thouret joined the Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul and worked in several Parisian hospitals before being ordered to return to secular life during the revolution. She refused and attempted to flee, only to be captured and severely beaten. Escaping by foot to her own village she cared for the sick but was forced to flee to Switzerland, where she continued her ministry among its Catholic exiles. Anti-Catholic feeling forced her into Germany but she eventually returned to Switzerland where she founded the Institute of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, which quickly expanded throughout Europe.
St. John Baptist Rossi studied successively under the Franciscans, Jesuits and Dominicans. As a result of his severe mortifications he developed epilepsy but notwithstanding which he completed his studies and was ordained a priest for Rome. Among his first acts were to start a hospice and purchase an organ. He exercised his ministry amongst farmers, laborers, the poor, prostitutes and prisoners but avoided hearing their confessions in case he had a seizure. His bishop eventually convinced him of this obligation and he became a sought after confessor. St John Baptist was also a renowned preacher, who sought the most abandoned souls of Rome in order to instruct them in the faith.
St. William of Rochester was a baker, who adopted an abandoned child he found outside the church after Mass. After teaching the boy his trade, they embarked on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land but along the way his adopted son turned on him, clubbing him to death and stealing his possessions. His body was found by a madwoman who adorned it with a floral wreath and was immediately cured, prompting local monks to inter his remains in Rochester Cathedral and build a shrine in his honour.
The shortest road to heaven is to guide others there by the confessional - St. John Baptist Rossi
posted by Lactantius at
3:18 pm
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