About Us

The Institute of Oblate Sisters of St. Benedict Joseph Labre is a congregation of women religious in the Catholic Church. The Institute was founded in Molfetta (near Bari, Italy), immediately after the World War II, by Reverend Fr. Ambrogio Grittani, a priest of the Diocese of Molfetta. Led by the Holy Spirit, Fr. Ambrogio Grittani saw in the tragic situation of the time, a particular moment of his priestly ministry and calling, with a specific charism, to an authentic witness of charity and service in favour of beggars, the disables, and in particular of the elderly, the poor and all those in need of assistance.

Fr. Ambrogio Grittani, a professor in the Pontifical Regional Seminary of Molfetta, had long been sensitized and prepared by divine providence to an ideal life and apostolate of charitable work among young souls with whom he came into contact in his priestly life and ministry. On October 23, 1941, with the consent of the Bishop of Molfetta, Bishop Achille Salvucci, he gathered the first group of people in a fraternal community of spiritual life and apostolic works. With them he started a more orderly and effective active service, corroborated from the ideal of communion and prayer and[read more...]

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Fr. Ambrogio Grittani lived and worked in the first half of 20th century, taking on the situations of poverty, moral and social degradation, consequences of an era crossed by two world wars.

Fr. Grittani was born in Ceglie del Campo on 11th October 1907, to the family of Michele Grittani, a dynamic merchant of the town, and Chiara Carone, daughter of landowners in Bitritto. Last of six children, even though he had been an orphan of a father since the first months of his life, he seemed to have inherited from him the jovial and dynamic temperament, his known generosity towards the poor and an open mind to renewal. From his mother, of whom Ambrogio had known the embrace only up to the tender age of four years, he had assimilated the values of sobriety, of duty in his commitments, sacrifice, respect of others, and solidarity of life. It was she who led Ninì, as Ambrogio was called by the family, at the first meetings with Jesus the Eucharist and the first gestures of altruism towards the poor.

The day of the First Communion marked - as he wrote - the beginning of a "strong friendship" and of an "eternal bond", sealed by a "pact of love" in which the boy became the "little crusader of Jesus", he was committed to spreading the Faith, Purity and [read more...]

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With the help of a group of volunteers, the “Opera” in the meantime advanced, despite the contrasts, the difficulties and the inconveniences. The number of beggars increased; in addition to welcoming the poor to offer the hot meal, 50 children were welcomed in the first location and the theatre began to function, followed by a thousand other initiatives.

Almost immediately, Fr Ambrogio realized that the group of volunteers could no longer satisfy the various services already organized. Thus, the idea of founding a female Congregation, which embraced its ideal of charity, could guarantee a continuous service to all.

Thus, were born the Oblate Sisters of St. Benedict Joseph Labre: young people devoted to sacrifice who do not disdain to "go down the dark streets of life to seek the souls depraved by guilt; therefore it is necessary for me to surround myself with creatures who feel these ideals and do not fear to be obscured. I must make those who collaborate with me, the same as myself, not for me, but for the One who gave His life for all his sheep, including beggars ".

The religious family also wanted to support [read more...]

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The Oblates are called to serve "Jesus in the poor", daily living the Eucharistic commitment of "breaking bread" for the brothers. To donate the fresh, intact and fragrant Bread of the Eucharist means:

• Building oneself totally on Jesus in the Eucharist, drawing inspiration from the experience of the founder, summarized in the expression "My life and Jesus in the Eucharist";
• Cultivating and increasing communion in the world, on the model of the only bread made up of many grains of wheat;
• To propose the Eucharistic solution of Jesus, Bread of life, to the man of today, thirsty for answers, for orientations, for truth and hungry for pure Love, for fullness of life, inner stability, true joy and peace;
• Living the four commitments of the Eucharistic mission:
  • praise and thanksgiving to God;
  • the impetration of graces for the brethren;
  • the offering of oneself in the participation in the Sacrifice;
  • reparation;
• Offer to the Priests, especially the elderly ones [read more...]CONTACT US

Our Eucharistic mission lived through spiritual and material service "to the poor, to the rich, to the priests", calls us:

• to give the Eucharistic Bread to the individual who hunger for God;
• to comfort and restore trust to the individual human person who experiences suffering as a result of indigence, old age, loneliness, doubt, or any other existential crisis;
• take care of the human body, provide for its needs, restore its dignity;
• to assure Priests of the comfort of a spiritual and material service in our Priestly Homes;
• to bring to the poor, in the land of mission, the Eucharistic Bread of the knowledge of the Gospel and of human, moral and material promotion;
• engage in the spirit of "mothers, sisters, friends" in the field of education and catechesis, in collaboration with the diocesan project.

Today the Oblate Sisters operate in Molfetta, Terlizzi [read more...]

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