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The saints

St. Benedict Joseph Labre

Rejected by every monastery, he became a homeless pilgrim, and Rome called him a saint.

Feast: 16 April (date from the Roman Martyrology; not on the universal calendar) · 1748 to 1783 · Reformation and missions · France and Rome

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Painting of St. Benedict Joseph Labre in ragged clothes, arms folded and eyes lowered.

Antonio Cavallucci, 1795. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. Benedict Joseph Labre

The Colosseum, Rome, 1770s

Benedict tried to join several monasteries and was turned away or sent away each time.1

So he became a pilgrim, walking to shrines across Europe in rags.1

He settled in Rome, sleeping in the ruins of the Colosseum and praying in churches all day.

Patron of homeless people1

01St. Benedict Joseph Labre

The saint of Rome

He gave away the alms he received and spent hours in adoration.1

When he died at thirty-five, children ran through the streets saying the saint was dead.1

Live it this week

Learn a homeless person’s name

Benedict was a homeless saint. This week, learn the name of one person living on the street near you, and use it every time you see them.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Benedict Joseph Labre”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.