Feast of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre : THE BEGGAR OF PERPETUAL ADORATION

IMPORTANT FACTS:

Benedict Joseph was a man who was rejected by every Religious Order that he went to join but he never

lost hope.He believed that no matter how much people may reject him,the good Lord shall receive him and

he lived with that believe until the very last breathe of his. 

His Pilgrim life was inspired by Saint Alexus of Rome and it was a life that abandon his country,his family and whatever earthly desire and to lead a life that was most painful,strict penance,not in a wilderness

or in a cloister but in the midst of the world to see the wickedness of this world.He had to face the world 

and all its cruelty and while he devoutly visit the famous places of Catholic Devotions barefoot as a pilgrim

of God.  

Along his pilgrimage,he visited the various shrines in Loreto, Assisi, Naples, and Bari in Italy, Einsiedeln in Switzerland,Paray-le-Monial in France and Santiago de Compostela in Spain.He prayed as he went along

and asked Jesus for the grace to go on and not lose hope.

Many times,people have seen him receive harsh treatment from others without fighting back.He talked

rarely but prayed frequently.Soon he was known as the Fool for Christ and people laughed at him where ever he was seen praying.He was a man that was not afraid of the world and he showed himself to the 

world knowing that the world would reject him;he did not run away but rather stayed and witness its brutality.

His faithfulness to prayer,soon was proved by the cures of many homeless he came across during his pilgrimage and he  multiplied bread for them.He often prayed among them while helping them with their

needs.They looked to him as their ' Tower of Refuge' because when the world rejected them,he was

always there to pray and take care of them.Though he was just the same as them,his faith was stronger

than theirs and they all knew that there was a Saint among them.

Even in his time of alms,he never forgot to spend time infront of the Blessed Sacrament.He spent many hours there and people found it difficult to understand how he could stay so long in the church.Many get distracted but not him.He almost seemed like he was in the Blessed Sacrament with Jesus just relaxing and talking 

with Jesus through his prayers and frequent recitation of the Rosary.He became so known as the 

"Saint of the 40 Hours"  for his dedication to Eucharistic Adoration.

Wednesday of Holy Week,1783,the day came for his departure from this world,he was 35-year-old when

he collapsed on the steps of a church.This poor pilgrim's final stop was at the church and no where else for that was his home because Jesus always welcomed him with open arms no matter how smelly or dirty he was;he always felt the embrace of Jesus whenever he entered church.He died peacefully in the home of a friendly butcher.As soon a he died,children and people came running in the streets exclaiming : 

" The Saint is dead! The Saint is dead!" 

The entire town turned out to pay their respects even those who made fun of him were present for his funeral.Extra police had to be brought in to control the crowds.That day did not seem like a beggar passed away but rather a Prince.God gave him such a grand funeral for all the sufferings that he endured.

May we know that through the life of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, that none of our prayers offered daily
to Jesus are not heard because Saint Benedict trusted Jesus blindly even without results from his prayers;
he kept on trusting.Saint Benedict held on to the words that Jesus told Jairus : (Mark 5: 36)

 " Do not be afraid ; just Believe " 

With this words of Jesus,today Saint Benedict sits happily in Heaven as rich Beggar of Christ.He was

begging for Jesus and the Lord heard him.Let us then not lose hope but rather cast our eyes on this great

Saint that shows us through his simple life that " NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE with GOD " because

God has transformed a Beggar into a Great Saint!

His confessor,Marconi,wrote a biography of Benedict Joseph Labre and also testimonies of  136 cures
to his intercession within 3 months of his death. Those miracles were instrumental in the conversion of the Reverend John Thayer,the 1st American Protestant clergyman to convert to Catholicism,who was resident
in Rome at the time of St. Benedict's death.A devotion grew up around him very soon after his death,and
he was Beatified in the year 1860, on the 20th of  May by Pope Pius IX as Blessed Benedict Joseph Labre and then was Canonized in the year 1881, on the 8th of December by Pope Leo XIII as Saint Benedict Joseph Labre.

Quotes of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre:

God is so good and so merciful,that to obtain Heaven it is sufficient to ask it of Him from our hearts.

We offend God because we do not know his Greatness.

God afflicts us because he loves us;and it is very pleasing to him,when in our afflictions he sees us abandon ourselves to his paternal care.

Meditate on the horrors of Hell, which will last for eternity because of one easily-committed mortal sin.Try hard to be among the few who are chosen. Think of the eternal flames of Hell, and how few there are that are saved.

                       

 The Servant Song :

The Shrine of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, 

Saint Malachy's Church, Belfast

                        
PRAYER TO SAINT BENEDICT JOSEPH LABRE:

O Holy Saint Benedict,the Beggar of Perpetual Adoration,you who did spend a minimum of 40 hours of your time adoring the Blessed Sacrament daily.Pray that we too may have that love of spending as many hours as we can infront of the Blessed Sacrament,to adore Jesus.Teach us the value of this precious gift given to us by God that we may cherish it throughout our life here on earth.Help us to believe in the power and the presence of Jesus in this Holy Sacrament.For by this very Sacrament you were bestowed with abundant graces;pray for us that we may witness the graces flowing silently  from this beautiful Sacrament.
Amen.
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre,Beggar of Christ Most Sorrowful,pray for us!