I've decided St. Benedict Joseph was not mentally ill, contrary to what modern experts have claimed.
"The layperson is a layperson and has to live as a layperson with the power of baptism, which enables him to be a leaven of the love of God in society itself, to create and sow hope, to proclaim the faith, not from a pulpit but from his everyday life. And like all of us, the layperson is called to carry his daily cross — the cross of the layperson, not of the priest." --Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in an interview, now Pope Francis
And Happy Birthday to Pope Benedict XVI!
Thank you for mentioning Saint Benedict Joseph Labre - and for understanding that his sometimes terrifying single-mindedness was not 'mental illness'. He certainly carried the daily cross of a layman, after his eleven attempts [Father Groeschel's count!] to enter religious community life.
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