Marcello Labor, born Marcello Loewy, studied and became a doctor, at the beginning of 1912 he married Elsa Reiss in a Jewish rite. The First World War took him to Ljubljana, where at the end of 1914 he received baptism together with his wife, for a vow she had made to the Madonna. In 1929 there was a turning point in his life, with the gradual rediscovery together with his wife of the faith they had received as a gift, with enthusiasm in the apostolate. He is active in Catholic Action and in the charitable commitment of San Vincenzo. In these years the ordeal of his wife began, who died in 1934. After the death of his wife and the arrangement of the children to whom he assigned a part of the inheritance, he destined the remainder to good works and to Catholic Action. Completely stripped of all its substance, he asked the 48-year-old to enter the seminary and with docility he embarked on this new stage, studied and finished his formation journey in two years. He was ordained a priest on September 21, 1940.
He became rector of the diocesan seminary and parish priest of the Cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste, he died of a heart attack on 29 September 1954, at the age of 64.
Don Marcello Labor was buried according to his instructions, “poor and naked. Poor, because what is on or around me belongs to the Church; naked, i.e. alone in my beloved cassock, without insignia, caps or vestments. I feel so poor before God." He was declared venerable on June 5, 2015.
