St. Benedict Joseph Labre was born in Northern France. His parents desired for him to become a priest. When he was sixteen, they sent Benedict to study with his uncle, who was a priest. Benedict worked hard but was not happy in these studies. He wanted to give up everything, to live as simply as possible. He felt that money and earthly goods and pleasures were just distractions from God.
Realizing that the life of a parish priest was not what he was called to, Benedict left to try to join a Trappist community. When he arrived, the monks did not allow Benedict to join their community, stating that he was too young. Benedict was convinced that God was calling him to join a community and traveled across France to apply at many different monasteries. Eventually, one let him join them for a trial period.
Though initially thrilled to finally live the life he felt he was made for, Benedict soon found himself wanting more. The order required Benedict to spend a lot of time alone in his room in silence. This is what he thought he desired, and yet he grew restless and was not satisfied. Even in the simple life of the monastery, he felt there were too many earthly pleasures and that it was a more comfortable life than he truly desired. While Benedict still desired to live the simplest life possible away from others, he knew that the monastery was not where he was meant to stay.
Benedict left at the age of 25 with a greater understanding of how he was meant to live; he would live alone in the middle of society. Benedict began to live life as a begger. He carried prayer beads and wore simple clothes: a tunic tied at the waist with a rope and a thin jacket, and a crucifix around his neck. He lived only on the food which he was given or could find, never taking more than he needed. If someone gave him more food than he needed for that day, he would give the extra to another homeless man on the street. He never kept anything for the next day, concentrating only on one day at a time.
Benedict traveled to visit holy sites in France and Italy and then eventually all over Europe. His favorite place to visit was the Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto, Italy. He made these journeys on foot, carrying a small bag which held his prayer book and Bible. He slept on the street and did not bathe. A priest who spent time with Benedict wrote that the smell was so bad that he had to hold his breath or cover his nose. Benedict found joy when others would look at him with disgust or go out of their way to avoid him; he felt that he had finally achieved his goal of rejecting all earthy pleasures to focus only on God.
Eventually, he chose Rome as his main residence and found a small shelter in the ruins of the Coliseum. It was here that Benedict died when he was only 35. Immediately upon his death, the faithful men, women, and children began to cry out and proclaim him a saint. Many people came to visit the church where he was buried, so many that they had to place soldiers there to keep the crowds under control.
Within a year, the stories of Benedict’s holiness spread across all of Europe. His parents, who had not heard from Benedict in over 12 years, realized that that man being honored as a saint was their son. They were overjoyed to hear that he had finally found the peace he had been searching for.
Many of the men who had avoided Benedict were the ones who joyfully proclaimed his holiness after his death. They realized that Benedict had chosen to become a beggar in order to be closer to God. They had not understood this while he was alive, but celebrated it upon his death.
St. Benedict chose to live a life which did not fit into the society in which he lived. Today, our society tells us that many things are ok that are contrary to our faith. Let us look to St. Benedict Joseph Labre to live our faith proudly in spite of the opinions of others.