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I know saints are exceptional, but I wonder how they could bear some people who are everything they are not.

Could someone be a saint while being asocial, or a bit misanthropic?

I know some saints were hermits or prefered to be alone, but to what extent could they do this without contradicting the Gospel and its teaching?

My question is mainly about: Are there some examples of these kind of saints in the history of the Catholic Church?

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  • There are some who avoided social contact quite strongly, but it was more to do with avoiding human praise, than just being antisocial. Other Saints have been known to be quite shy.
    – Ken Graham ♦
    Dec 20, 2016 at 13:34
  • If you have some examples, names, I would glad you develop your comment into an answer.
    – Quidam
    Dec 20, 2016 at 13:36
  • Moderators, please, explain how to fix the "too broad" problem.
    – Quidam
    Dec 21, 2016 at 6:01
  • That's hard to limit the time, or country, as I'd like to hear about any saints that fulfill my descritipion if they exist. It would be arbitrary to say "only from this country", as the country doesn't matter at all. Maybe I should add: catholics saints.
    – Quidam
    Dec 21, 2016 at 12:39
  • Benedict Joseph Labre was a mentally ill, homeless beggar; in a time lacking psychological science, his contemporaries attributed Benedict’s eccentricities to his holiness. - Are we uncomfortable with mentally ill saints?
    – Ken Graham ♦
    Dec 23, 2016 at 12:39

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Saint Bernadette Soubirous was a very shy person as we can see here:

The next request of the Lady to Bernadette was to have a chapel built on the site of her visits. For Bernadette, a shy, 14-year-old girl, this was an impossible task. She felt compelled, though, to go to the parish priest with the request. She received a curt dismissal from him with these words: “Tell the beautiful Lady that the Cure of Lourdes is not in the habit of dealing with mysterious strangers. If she wants a chapel and has the right to one, she must reveal her identity.” - Our Lady of Lourdes

A good biography of her life will give examples of this saint avoiding human praises, like the time she hide behind a curtain in order to avoid being singled out by the bishop.

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