St Benedict Joseph Labre Bibliography

I. Biographies

• Giuseppe Loreto Marconi. Ragguaglio della vita del servo di Dio, Benedetto Labre Francese Rome. 1783.

  The first published work on Saint Benedict Joseph, written within a few months of his death in April 1783 by the priest who had been his confessor in Rome, this biography was instrumental in inaugurating the process of his beatification. The Italian title may be rendered, "Account of the life of the Servant of God, Benedict Labre, Frenchman." As the following two entries demonstrate, the work was soon translated into other languages and published elsewhere in Europe.

• [French translation:] Vie de Benoit-Joseph Labre, mort a Rome en odeur de saintete. Traduit de italien de M. Marconi [par le Pere Elie Hard]. Paris. Guillot. 1784, viii, 220 p., front. (port.), 16 cm.

  The French title may be rendered, "The Life of Benedict Joseph Labre, who died at Rome in the odor of sanctity," i.e, with a reputation for holiness.

• [English translation, abridged:] Life of Venerable Benedict Joseph Labre. Translated from the French by Barnard. London. 1785 [i.e., 1786].
• Life of the Venerable Servant of God, Benedict Joseph Labre. Oratorian Series. London. 1850.

  Despite the titles of the preceding two works, it seems that the style "Venerable" (indicating recognition that he had practised heroic virtue) was not conferred officially upon Benedict Joseph Labre until 1859 by Ven. Pope Pius IX. He was beatified by Pius IX in 1869, and canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881.

• J. Mantenay. St. Benoit Labre. Paris. 1908.
• F. Gaguere. 1936.
• L. Bracaloni. Il Santo della Strada: Benedetto Giuseppe Labre. Rome. 1946.
• A. de la Gorce. 1952.
• [English translation:] St Benedict Joseph Labre. Translated by R. Sheed. 1952.
• F. Gaquere. Le saint pauvre de Jesus-Christ, Benoit Joseph Labre. New ed. Avignon. 1954.
• P. Doyere. 1964.

II. Dictionaries of Saints, and Encyclopedias

• Catholic Encyclopedia. 1907-1913: Joseph F. Delaney, "St. Benedict Joseph Labre."

  This article is also published in the on-line Catholic Encyclopedia, a feature of the New Advent Catholic Web site, maintained by Kevin Knight.

• Alban Butler. Butler's Lives of the Saints; revised by Herbert Thurston, S.J., and Donald Attwater. 4 vols. 1953-4: Vol. II, pp.106-8.
• Bibliotheca Sanctorum. 12 vols. Rome. 1960-70: Vol. II, 1218-20.
• Donald Attwater. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. Penguin Books. 1965: p.64, "Benedict Labre, mendicant."
• New Catholic Encyclopedia 14 vols. McGraw-Hill Book Company. 1967: Vol. VIII, p.302, [W. E. Langley,] "Labre, Benedict Joseph, St."

  The article is accompanied by an illustration, a black-and-white repoduction of the portrait from life by Carallucci [sic], i.e., Cavallucci.

• Kristin E. White, compiler. A Guide to the Saints. Ivy Books. New York. 1991: p.40, "Benedict Joseph Labre. Confessor. 1748-1783. April 16."

  The description of St Benedict Joseph's family background as "poor" should be read with caution. His parents were members of the middle class, the bourgeoisie, his father a prosperous shopkeeper, and they were able to provide for the education of their fifteen children, of whom Benedict Joseph was the eldest. At least two of his uncles were priests. It is certain that the voluntary destitution in which St Benedict Joseph lived his adult life was not a condition to which he had in any way been raised.

• David Hugh Farmer. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press. Oxford & New York. 1992: pp.286-7, "Labre, Benedict Joseph (1748-1783), confessor."

III. Popular & Devotional Works

• Joan Carroll Cruz. Secular Saints: 250 Canonized and Beatified Lay Men, Women and Children. TAN Books and Publishers. Rockford, Illinois. 1989: pp.81-88, "Chapter 22: St. Benedict Joseph Labre 1748-1783."