Labbe, Philippe, a celebrated French Jesuit, was born at Bourges July 10, 1607, He joined the order in 1G23, and became professor of ethics, philosophy, and moral theology, first at the CoUege of Bourges, where he had been educated, and aftenvards at Paris, where he settled in 1G43 or 1G44. After teaching theology for two years in that city, he turned himself exclusively to literary labors. He died at Paris Mar. 25, 1CG7. Labbe was a man of extensive learning, uncommon memory, and great activity. Sotwel, Niceron, and Moreri con- sider him as the author of seventy-five dift'ercnt works, some of them quite insignificant, however. His chief claim to renown rests on his Manual of Councils, which was completed by Gabriel Cossart, and published at Par- is in 1G71 (16 vols, in 17, folio; to some copies an 18th vol. is added, containing Jacobatius de Conciliis). The most complete edition was published under the title aS'.iS'. Concilia, ad rec/iani editioneni exacta, qum olini qiiarta parte jn-odiit auctior. Studio Philip. Lahhei, et Gubr. Cossartii. Nunc verb integre, insertis Stej)hani Baluzii etJoannis Harduini additamentis, jylurimis praterea un- dicunque conquisitis monumentvi, notis insuper ac observa- tionibus, jirviiori fundamento conciliorum epochas ptrce- cipue fulcientibus, long'e locupletior et emendatior exhibe- tur. Curante Nicolao Coleti (Venet. 1728, 23 vols. fol.). Et supplement)im J. D. 3fansi (Lucie, 1748-52, 6 vols. ; in all, 29 vols. fol.). This is the most complete collection extant of the Councils of the Church. It was reprinted, ^vith the supplement incorporated, and edited by INIansi, at Florence (1757-98,31 vols, folio) — a much esteemed and accurate edition ; but it only reaches to the year 1509, while the edition by Coletus brings the councils down to 1727. Among his other works the most impor- tant are, SS. Patrum theologorum scriptorumqite ecclesi- asticomm utriusque Testanienti Bibliothpca chronnlngica. Cum pinacotheca scriptorum Soc. Jesu (Par. 1659, 16mo) : — Uetj/mologie de plusieurs mots Francois, conire les abus de la secte des Hellenistes du Port-Royal (Paris, 1661, 12mo) : — Bibliotheca bibliothecarum (3d edit. Roth. 1678, 8vo) : — De Byzantincn historic scriptoribus (Byzantine Histories, i): — Nova BibKotheca 31 SS. Librorum (1657, 2 vols, fol.) : — De Scriptoribus Eccles. Dissertatio (2 vols. 8vo) ; etc. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, xxviii, 338 ; DarUng, Cyclopasdia Bibliographica, ii, 1751 ; Pierer, Uni- versal Lexikon, ix, 944. (J. N. P.)
Labben. See MuTii-LiVBBEN.
Labis (Xo/3('c, or \aftidiov, a spoon), an implement used in the (ireek Church for the purpose of administer- ing the elements in the Lord's Supper. Difticulties in the administration of the wine were fancied to arise in the Middle Ages, in order to meet whicli the Jistulm eu- chai'isticce were introduced ; and subsequently the prac-
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tice of (lipping the bread in the wine, so that both might be administered together. The Latin Church at length withdrew the wine altogether; anil the Greek Church, mingling both elements, administered them at once with a \a]5ic, or iipooii. — B'arrar, JiJccl. Diet. See Fistul.e.
Labor (properly ^'2V,(ihad', to zvorl; Gr. lpyu'Coi.iai ; also ">"", amal', to ioil,GT. Koiridiu ; and other terms). From Gen. ii, 15 (where the same word ^3^ is used, A. V. "till"), we learn that man, even in a state of inno- cence, and surrounded by all the external sources of happiness, was not to pass his time in indolent repose. Ey the very constitution of his animal frame, exercise of some kind was absolutely essential to liim (comp. Ec- cles. V, 12). In Gen. iii, 19, labor, in its more rigorous and exhausting forms, is set forth as a part of the pri- meval curse, " In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread ;" and doubtless there is a view of labor which ex- hibits it in reality as a heavy, sometimes a crushing burden (compare Gen. xxxv, io). But labor is by no means exclusively an evil, nor is its prosecution a dis- honor (comp. Psa. ciii, 23, 24). It is the prostration of strength, wherewith is also connected the temporary in- capacity of sharing in the enjoyments of life, and not labor itself, which constitutes the curse pronounced on the fallen man. Hence we find that, in primitive times, manual labor was neither regarded as degrading nor confined to a certain class of society, but was more or less prosecuted by all. By the institution of the Sab- bath, moreover, one seventh of man's brief life was res- cued from labor, and appro])riatcd to rest of body and to that improvement of the mind which tends to strength- en, invigorate, and sustain the entire man. See Sab- bath.
Labor was enjoined on all Israelites as a sacred duty in the fourth commandment (Exod. xx, 9; Deut. v, 13 ) ; and the Bible entertains so high a respect for the dili- gent and skilful laborer, that Me are tohl in Prov. xxii, 29, " Seest thou a man skilled in his work, he shall stand before kings" (comp. also ibid, x,4; xii, 24,27). Among the beautiful features which grace an excellent house- wife, it is prominently set forth that " she worketh will- ingly with her own hands" (Prov. xxxi, 13). With such an honorable regard for labor, it is not to be wondered at that Avhen Nebuchadnezzar carried the Jews away into captivity, he found among tliem a thousand crafts- men and smiths (2 Kings xxiv, 14-lG; Jer. xxix, 2). The ancient rabbins, too, regarded manual labor as most honorable, and urged it upon every one as a dutj', as may be seen from the following sayings in the Talmud : " He who does not teach his son a craft is, as it were, briiii;ing him np to robbery" (Cholin, 105); "Labor is greatly to be prized, for it elevates the laborer, and maintains him" {Chagi(/a,b; Nedarim,^'d,\i\ Baba Ba- ihra, 110, a). See Handicraft.