San Benedetto Giuseppe Labre pellegrino sul sepolcro della “Venerabile” Rosa Maria Serio

Abstract

The article intends to highlight the relationship between a saint and a venerable: the poor pilgrim Benedict Joseph Labre and the  Carmelite mystic Rosa Maria Serio. The two figures are put in relation in the 1799 testimony of Tommaso Potenza, innkeeper of  Fasano. The latter recounts that the saint travelled between the southern Italian cities of Bari and Fasano, where the venerable’s  remains rested, to pray on her tomb. St. Benedict Labre’s act of devotion would be a concrete indicator of the effective sanctity of the  venerable. The saints develop a subtle capacity in their spiritual perception, allowing also hidden sanctities to be uncovered.