St. John Baptist de Rossi (1698-1764) was an assistant pastor in Rome. Day to day, he devoted himself to the sick poor in Rome’s hospitals. By night he ministered to street people at a refuge. No service for the sick, no matter how repugnant, repulsed him… he exhorted others to follow his example in caring for souls:

“Like the child Jesus we also must be about our Father’s business–the saving of the souls of our brothers and sisters… Many of us shrink form going to the hospital from fear of infection or from the sights and smells that await us there. Courage! We are not in the world to follow our own will and pleasure, but to imitate the Lord.”

from Ghezzi, Bert. Voices of the Saints: A Year of Readings. New York: Doubleday, 2000.

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