[This hand-made 11" ceramic creation of Venerable Matt Talbot is an original design by Fr. Maur van Doorslaer, O.S.B., that helps support the St. Andrew’s Abbey in California. It is available at http://www.olacathedralgifts.com/venerablematttalbot.aspx]
| Website description of image: “Venerable Matt Talbot [1856-1925] was born the 2nd of 12 children into a poor family in Dublin. He began drinking at 12 and was an alcoholic by age 13. Matt had a conversion experience on his knees at 28. He made a pledge of sobriety, which he kept until his death 41 years later. He worked in a lumberyard on the docks of Dublin, as did his father and grandfather. He was always poor and yet always generous to those in need. He lived a life of fasting, prayer and service imitating the Irish monks of the 6th Century. He is shown with symbols of his devotion to the Eucharist, to Mary and to the Word of God and with the chains of his addiction. He is considered a modern patron of alcoholics. He died on June 7, 1925.” |