Saint Benedict Joseph Labre
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre (born March 26, 1748 in Amettes, Artois, France; died April 16, 1783 in Rome, Italy) was a French layman who lived as a pilgrim-beggar, wandering the shrines of Europe for years in voluntary poverty and radical abnegation before settling in Rome where he died in the street near the church of Santa Maria ai Monti. He was beatified on May 26, 1860 by Pope Pius IX and canonized on December 8, 1881 by Pope Leo XIII. He is the patron saint of the homeless, tramps, and the mentally ill. His feast day is April 16.
Benedict Joseph Labre is one of the most unusual saints in the Catholic calendar—not a martyr, not a founder, not a mystic of visionary gifts, but a man who chose utter destitution as a spiritual path and who lived the Beatitudes with a literal radicality that few have equaled. He is a patron of those society dismisses.
Stored in Cargo: Saint Benedict Joseph Labre
| Saint Benedict Joseph Labre | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | April 16 |
| Profession | Layman; pilgrim; beggar; penitent |
| Rel. Affiliation | Layman (Third Order Franciscan spiritual affinities; lived near Franciscan tradition) |
| Patronage | The homeless; vagrants and tramps; the mentally ill; rejects of society; pilgrims |
| Attributes | Pilgrim's staff and wallet; rosary; tattered cloak; lice (a traditional iconographic element marking his self-neglect as spiritual asceticism) |
| Birthplace | Amettes, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France |
| Death Place | Rome, Italy |
| Cause of Death | Natural causes (collapse from malnutrition and exhaustion in the street) |
| Primary Shrine | Santa Maria ai Monti, Rome, Italy (where he died outside the door and where he was first publicly acclaimed as a saint by the people of Rome) |
| Liturgical Class | Optional Memorial |
| Historic Class | Not included |
Biography
Early life and thwarted religious vocation
Benedict Joseph Labre was born on March 26, 1748 in Amettes, a village in Artois in northern France, as the eldest of fifteen children of a grocer. He was a serious, devout, and rather melancholy child who felt a powerful vocation to religious life. He attempted unsuccessfully to enter two Cistercian monasteries and then the Trappists, but was repeatedly refused—he was too young, or too eccentric, or too ascetic in temperament for communal monastic life.
His rejections were genuine trials. He persevered in prayer seeking God's will, and gradually came to understand that his vocation was not the monastery but the open road: to be a pilgrim, to pray at the shrines of Christendom, to live in absolute poverty without fixed abode.
Years of pilgrimage
From around 1770, Benedict began his years of wandering pilgrimage. He traveled on foot through France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Switzerland, visiting the great shrines: Loreto, Assisi, Fabriano, Bari (Saint Nicholas), Compostela, Einsiedeln (Switzerland), and many others. He made his journeys barefoot or nearly so, carrying almost nothing, eating whatever charity provided, sleeping in the open or in ruined buildings, and spending long hours in prayer before the altars of the shrines he visited.
He refused to beg actively; he accepted what was freely offered and often gave it away to others poorer than himself. He was ragged, infested with lice (which he was said to have welcomed as a mortification), and would have appeared to the outside world as simply one of the many homeless poor who wandered the roads of pre-revolutionary Europe. But those who encountered him recognized something extraordinary in his face and prayer.
Final years in Rome
After years of pilgrimage, Benedict gradually settled in Rome, where he spent winters living among the ruins of the Colosseum and spending his days in the churches of Rome—particularly the Forty Hours of Adoration, which he followed from church to church throughout the city. He was a constant presence in the churches, kneeling for hours in prayer, attracting the wondering attention of Roman Catholics who gradually recognized him as holy.
He died on April 16, 1783, collapsing in the street outside the church of Santa Maria ai Monti. He was thirty-five years old. A butcher's boy who found him is said to have run through the street crying, Il santo è morto! ("The saint is dead!"), and crowds gathered almost immediately to venerate him as a saint. He was given Christian burial in Santa Maria ai Monti.
Canonization
The news of his death spread rapidly and miracles were attributed to his intercession. He was beatified in 1860 by Pius IX, and on December 8, 1881—the Feast of the Immaculate Conception—canonized by Pope Leo XIII, who saw in Benedict Joseph Labre a striking witness to the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience lived outside any religious order.
Significant events
- Born March 26, 1748 in Amettes, Artois, France.
- Repeatedly refused entry to monasteries (Cistercians, Trappists).
- Began pilgrimage life c. 1770; wandered shrines of Europe for a decade.
- Settled in Rome in his final years; constant presence in Roman churches.
- Died April 16, 1783 in the street near Santa Maria ai Monti, Rome; immediately acclaimed as a saint by the Roman people.
- Beatified May 26, 1860 by Pope Pius IX.
- Canonized December 8, 1881 by Pope Leo XIII.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: Amettes, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France
Death location: Rome, Italy
Notable location: Place where he spent his final years; died in the street; venerated at Santa Maria ai Monti (Rome, Italy)
Notable location: The Holy House of Loreto; one of the major shrines he visited repeatedly as a pilgrim (Loreto, Ancona Province, Marche, Italy)
Notable location: His birthplace; pilgrimage site in his honor (Amettes, Pas-de-Calais, France)
Notable location: Santiago de Compostela; one of the shrines he visited on his pilgrimages (Compostela, Galicia, Spain)
Notable location: Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi; another major pilgrimage destination (Assisi, Perugia Province, Umbria, Italy)
Dynamic content
Parishes
No parishes dedicated to Saint Benedict Joseph Labre have been added to the database yet.
Media
| Media | Length | AuthorCreator |
|---|---|---|
| April 17 Saint Benedict Joseph Labre | Under 5 minutes | Breski1 |
| Chaplet of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre - Patron of the Mentally Ill | Under 5 minutes | Catholic Saints |
| The Life of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre | 5–15 minutes | Daily Lives of Franciscan Saints |
| St. Benedict Joseph Labre | 5–15 minutes | Gabi After Hours |
| The Life of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre | 5–15 minutes | Radio Immaculata |
| Saint Benedict Joseph Labre - April 16th | 5–15 minutes | Saint of the Day |
Shrines
Dynamic shrines
No results
No shrines where this saint is the primary saint.
Known shrines
- Santa Maria ai Monti, Rome, Italy — the church outside which he died; his body was first venerated here.
- Church of Santi Apostoli, Rome, Italy — one of the Roman churches where he was a regular worshipper.
- Amettes, Pas-de-Calais, France — his birthplace; pilgrimage site.
Canonization
Beatification
Benedict Joseph Labre was beatified on May 26, 1860 by Pope Pius IX in Vatican City.
Canonization
He was canonized on December 8, 1881 by Pope Leo XIII in Vatican City.
Feast day
April 16
Veneration
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church with a feast day on April 16. He is the patron saint of the homeless, the mentally ill, and social outcasts, and is particularly beloved among those who work with the poor.
Prayers
Authored
There are prayers authored by this saint in prayers list yet.
Intercessory
There are no prayers asking for this saint's intercession in prayers list yet.
Books
Written about the saint
- Lancelot Sheppard, Saint Benedict Joseph Labre: Pilgrim of Holy Year — biography and spiritual study.