Feastday, St. Benedict Joseph Labre, Patron of Beggars and Mentally Ill

What a powerful saint he is! How extraordinary his saintly life (1748-1783)! The miracles that he wrought in Rome immediately after his death led to the conversion of an American Congregationalist minister, Rev. Mr. John Thayer. Thayer went on to study for the Catholic priesthood with the Sulpicians in Paris and was ordained in 1789 just before the Revolution broke out. He was the first “Yankee” (New Englander) priest. The Catholic Encyclopedia has a good article on today’s most unusual saint here.