95th Anniversary of Venerable Matt Talbot's Death

Today is the 95th anniversary of the death of Matt Talbot. Matt was on his way to Mass in St. Saviour’s on Trinity Sunday, June 7, 1925, when he collapsed and died on Granby Lane, Dublin.

Fifty years later, Pope Paul VI (now Saint Paul Vl)  gave him the title "Venerable." He is known as a patron of alcoholics and workers. 

Prayer for the Canonisation of Venerable Matt Talbot

 Lord, in your servant, Matt Talbot
you have given us a wonderful example
of triumph over addiction, of devotion to duty,
and of lifelong reverence for the Most Holy Sacrament.

May his life of prayer and penance
give us courage to take up our crosses
and follow in the footsteps
of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

 Father,
if it be your will that your beloved servant
should be glorified by your Church,
make known by your heavenly favours
the power he enjoys in your sight.

We ask this through the same
Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Amen.

Venerable Matt Talbot's Shrine is located in Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Dublin.

A Transformation Story

In her 2016 memoir, “The Prayer Lines Behind the Bylines,” journalist Ann Hauprich shares some inspiring stories including that of Rev. William (Padre Guilherme) Tracy, CSSR:
 

“As a Roman Catholic school student half a century ago, I learned about St. Martin of Tours. In those days, St. Martin was heralded as a “Patron Saint of reformed drunkards.” In today’s vernacular, he is revered as a “Patron Saint of Recovering Alcoholics.”

The ministries of Saint Monica, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Jude and the Venerable Matt Talbot also brought light into the darkness of alcoholics of bygone eras – and continue to inspire those seeking to recover from addictions today. But in no book have I encountered a “Patron Saint of Recovering Alcoholic Clergy.”

Then it dawned on me that whether or not such a title has ever been — or will ever be – bestowed upon a mortal, the Rev. William Tracy has, by word and deed, exemplified what it is to be the latter...”  Continue reading this chapter at http://legaciesunlimited.com/father-william-tracy.htm. (And note there is an expanded PDF version of this chapter.)

“The greatest proof in my life that God really loves me is that

I am sober today and free from the living death of active alcoholism.

I am grateful that what for 20 years had been my greatest shame

has been transformed into the precious gift of helping others.”

                                                       Rev. William Tracy

Praying for those addicted during Mass

In this 2006 church bulletin article at http://www.stjamesthomas.org/bulletins/2006/110506.pdf,  Fr. A. Richard Carton discusses why a prayer for those who struggle with addictions is often heard during the Prayer of the Faithful at Mass.

PASTOR’S CORNER:

WE PRAY FOR THOSE WHO STRUGGLE WITH ADDICTIONS.

This prayer is often heard during the Prayer of the Faithful at Mass. Some would say that every human being has an addiction of some form or another. There are others who maintain that we often exchange one set of addictions for another. Either way, it is when any addiction becomes overwhelming and controls the life of a human, that a path which could lead to destruction is set. For years I have been intrigued with programs which offer support to addicts. In seminary, we studied the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous chiefly because of its spiritual nature. I have often stated that the 12 step program is one for all who are serious about living a full life of faith whether chemical dependency is an addiction in our lives or not.

Recently, I went to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. I had never been before. A close friend was celebrating a milestone in his life. Five years of sobriety. I wanted to be there to support him and also to understand a little more about the dynamic of what a meeting is about. Unfortunately, one can have many preconceived ideas of what individuals at an AA meeting look like and how they act. What I found were men and women who in their day to day environment would not stand out in any way that would indicate that they were alcoholics. There was none of the stuff that might sometimes be seen in movie versions of AA meetings. I was told before the meeting that a celebration meeting was different than other meetings in format. As I witnessed it, a celebration meeting affords the person celebrating an opportunity to ask two friends who are alcoholics to share a little about the one celebrating, but, more importantly, to share their own stories of struggle and addiction. As I listened and watched, I noted the men and women there often shaking their heads in agreement with the experiences of the speakers. There was a common bond of pain and struggle with those who had gathered. As I listened, I began to wonder about the others in the room. What was their story? What had happened to bring them to an addiction that they would battle for the rest of their lives?What is it within the human person that causes addiction to become part of our pattern of behavior? Many questions came to my mind as I continued to listen and learn.

Growing up in Ireland, I remember in religion class learning about a man who struggled with alcoholism. Matt Talbot (1856 - 1925) was born in the poverty of Dublin's inner city. He began drinking at twelve years of age and became a chronic alcoholic. Matt was an addict. After sixteen years, he decided to 'kick the habit'. A priest helped him, giving him a rehabilitation program, which incorporated the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. That was fifty years before AA was founded. After a horrendous struggle, he found sobriety through prayer and self-sacrifice. He remained sober for forty years until his death. His life story has been an inspiration for alcoholics and addicts throughout the world. Matt's program of recovery was built around devotion to the Eucharist, love of Mary, Mother of God, spiritual reading, self-discipline and manual work. But he never forgot his struggle with his addiction. "Never look down on a man who cannot give up the drink", he told his sister, "it is easier to get out of hell!" He is now being considered for Sainthood and has been declared Venerable by the Church.

I have no doubt that there are more who participate in that struggle than we will ever know. That is why our prayer is so important. An alcoholic once told me that when we pray for addicts during Mass, she knows that she is not alone and can feel the power of our prayer. Perhaps as we pray, we can ask the intercession of Matt Talbot for all who suffer with addictions. It is possible that one day he may be declared a Saint and Patron of those who suffer with addictions. I am most grateful for the example of my friend in his desire for sobriety. As he told me after the meeting, it is cooperating with God’s grace that makes the struggles bearable. For all who suffer from addictions – we pray to the Lord.

Venerable Matt Talbot - Patron of a Polish Foundation

Venerable Matt Talbot is one of three patrons of the "Helpers of the Queen of the Rosary" (Fundacja “Pomocnicy Królowej Różańca Świętego”) at http://pkrs.org.pl/en/o-fundacji/nasi-patroni/, which is available in multiple languages including English.

The Foundation's current initiatives include the “Queen of the Holy Rosary Quarterly” (“Królowa Różańca Świętego”) and a website “mainly intended for those seeking help after entanglement in various forms of occultism, spiritualism and other spiritual threats” at http://pkrs.org.pl/en/projekty-inicjatywy/nasze-inicjatywy/.

A planned initiative is a journal designed for people at risk of various addictions and dependences  and their families at http://pkrs.org.pl/en/projekty-inicjatywy/planowane-projekty/.

Your prayers and financial support of the Foundation are welcomed.

Who are your Holy Traveling Companions?

On this All Saints’ Day (officially the Solemnity of All Saints) we might consider an excerpt that Pope Benedict XVI presented in a general audience 2010:

“There are very dear people in the life of each one of us to whom we feel particularly close, some of whom are already in God's embrace while others still share with us the journey through life: they are our parents, relatives and teachers; they are the people to whom we have done good or from whom we have received good; they are people on whom we know we can count. Yet it is important also to have "travelling companions" on the journey of our Christian life. I am thinking of a Spiritual Director, a Confessor, of people with whom it is possible to share one's own faith experience, but I am also thinking of the Virgin Mary and the Saints. Everyone must have some Saint with whom he or she is on familiar terms, to feel close to with prayer and intercession but also to emulate. I would therefore like to ask you to become better acquainted with the Saints, starting with those you are called after, by reading their life and their writings. You may rest assured that they will become good guides in order to love the Lord even more and will contribute effective help for your human and Christian development...” (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20100825_en.html#)

Fr. Robert Barron’s sermon for this Holy Day of Obligation addresses, in part, “the panoply of saints, both those who are similar to us and those who bring out the parts of us that are 'in shadow.' He speaks of how making those complementary saints our friends can help sanctify this shadow side." Listen to the sermon here. 

(Fr. Barron is the author of Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith (2011) and the outstanding video series (2012).) 

Is Venerable Matt Talbot one of your traveling companions?

 

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Patrons St. Matthias and Ven. Matt Talbot

Besides the well-known St. Monica, a much lesser-known saint who is periodically listed as a patron saint of alcoholics is St. Matthias. Both St. Matthias and Ven. Matt Talbot  are discussed in This Saint Will Change Your Life by Thomas Craughwell.
(To read their entry insert "Matthias" or "Talbot" into the "Look Inside" box.)

Matt Talbot Day of Remembrance

[For Roman Catholic websites that post a brief biography of a saint or holy person for a particular day of the year, we may find Venerable Matt Talbot listed for June 18 or June 19, such as the one below. (For a comment about these two dates, see Matt Talbot Remembrance Day Discrepancy)


The following narrative about Matt Talbot is from the Ministry with Persons with Disabilities at the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Georgia at http://www.archatl.com/ministries/disabilities/saints/saint_info.php?0=June+19&feast_date=June+19&1=Venerable+Matt+Talbot&full_nam e=Venerable+Matt+Talbot&2=Alcoholics&patronage=Alcoholics. Its writer, Mr, McCoy, states that “a Jesuit Father, Father Edward Dowling helped A.A. to formulate this 12 step program in 1935.” Please note that while Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith and the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, was published in 1939, Bill Wilson, its anonymous author, did not meet Fr. Dowling until 1940 when Bill learned of the similarity between the 12 steps of AA and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. One source, among many, about this meeting can be found at http://www.barefootsworld.net/askbillw.html#24 and http://www.barefootsworld.net/askbillw.html#23]

“Venerable Matt Talbot

Feast day: June 19

(Patron of Struggling and Recovering Addicts and Alcoholics)

 

Matthew Talbot (1856 - 1925) was born in the poverty of Dublin's inner city. He took to drink when still a child, and was considered a hopeless alcoholic by age thirteen. When his wages were spent, he borrowed and scrounged for money. He pawned his clothes and boots to get money for alcohol. He became a thief, once even stealing the violin from a blind street entertainer. The violin was sold to pay for a "Drinks are on me!" pub bill. 

Sixteen years later at age 28, he decided to "kick the habit". His remaining forty-one dry years were lived heroically, attending daily Mass, praying constantly, helping the poor and living the ascetic life-style of Celtic spirituality. A Jesuit priest helped him, giving him a rehabilitation program, which providentially incorporated what was to become the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. This is not really surprising when one remembers that a Jesuit Father, Father Edward Dowling helped A.A. to formulate this program in 1935. The steps have basis in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits. The priest also gave him a chain to wear wrapped around his waist beneath his clothing. It was a very light but somewhat long chain, much like a clock chain. He wore it as a self-reminder of the fact that he was once enslaved by alcohol, and of his pledge to the Sacred Heart to keep on fighting "the demon". 

Matt also became a Third Order Franciscan in 1890. "Never be too hard on the man who can't give up drink." He told his sister. "It's as hard to give up the drink as it is to raise the dead to life again. But... both are possible and even easy for Our Lord. We have only to depend on him."

Matt Talbot worked in the lumber yards on the docks of Dublin. He was always very poor, partly because he was so generous to people in need. To his neighbors and his fellow workers, he was a cheerful, happy friend. He gave away most of his wages every week to the poor at home and in the Catholic missions abroad. He lived a life of prayer, fasting, and service, trying to model himself on the sixth century Irish Monks. He read Scripture, lives of saints, and -considering his meager schooling- an astounding assortment of books: The Confessions of St. Augustine; writings of St. Francis de Sales, St. Teresa of Avila, and Blessed John Cardinal Newman; papal encyclicals, world history, and social policy. Word by word, he deciphered what they said. What he couldn't understand, Matt laboriously copied onto scraps of paper, and then handed it to a sometimes astonished priest for explanation the next time he went to Confession.

After a life of heroic perseverance, Matt died suddenly while walking to Mass, June 7, 1925. Venerable Matt Talbot's remains were moved to Our Lady of Lourdes church on Sean McDermott Street, Dublin, Ireland in 1972. The tomb has glass panels through which the coffin may be seen. He was declared Venerable by Pope Paul VI in 1975. Addiction treatment programs, retreats, and centers throughout the world now bear his name.

Saint's Prayer

Gentle Matt, I turn to you in my present needs and ask for the help of your prayers. Trusting in you, I am confident your charitable and understanding heart will make my petitions your own. I believe that you are truly powerful in the presence of Divine Mercy. If it be for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the honor of Mary, our Mother and Queen and the deepening of my relationship with them, show that your goodness towards me, in my daily struggles, equals your influence with the Holy Spirit, who is hidden and at home in my Heart. Friend of pity, friend of power, hear, oh hear me in this hour. Gentle Matt, please pray for me. Amen

Special Thanks to: Thanks to The Life of Matt Talbot: A Dublin Laborer by Sir Joseph Glynn and Book of Saints by the Monks of Ramsgate for the basis of this narrative. 

The national Matt Talbot Shrine for the United States is located in Manorville, Long Island.

Data entered by: Ed McCoy on 2011-12-14”

A Reference to Being "Venerable"

In Bill Donahue’s, The Secret World of Saints: Inside the Catholic Church and the Mysterious Process of Anointing the Hold Dead (2011), Byliner Inc: Kindle Edition http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006P2X86U, he briefly describes the procedures of the Church’s saint-making process in Chapter 6. Donahue notes that “Venerable is a pretty high rank—akin to, say, four-star general or eighth-degree black belt. Very few servants [those declared “Servants of God”] get there, and when they do, the Vatican allows them some perks: You can build a church in a venerable person’s honor. You can put his image on prayer cards and build little shrines. Catholics pray to the venerable—and often allot them small plots of holy turf. For instance, the Venerable Matt Talbot, an Irish dockworker and drunkard who went on the wagon to live his final forty-one years as an ascetic, is the patron saint of alcoholics.”

Whereas Venerable Matt Talbot’s patronage is already established in the eyes of many, Donahue states in a footnote that "saints are never chosen on the basis of their patronage potential. Rather, they’re picked for their virtues and for their miracles—and then, over time, they accrue patronages...”

St. Francis of Assisi: Another Patron Saint of Alcoholics?

[St. Francis of Assisi is perhaps most typically thought of as the patron saint of animals, ecology, and peace. But according to the recovering alcoholic quoted in the article below by Fr. Joe, we might add "patron of alcoholics," not because St. Francis was an alcoholic but because of the peace prayer attributed to him (see "Note" below). This prayer is included in the chapter about the 11th step of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous in the book, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (page 99). According to the editor of this book, which was written by Bill Wilson, co-founder of A.A., Tom Powers is said to have commented that Bill W. considered St. Francis as the patron saint of Alcoholics Anonymous (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/6878)

While Venerable Matt Talbot may not have been aware of this prayer, St. Francis of Assisi was an important model for Matt as he joined the Third Order of St. Francis, known today as the Franciscan Secular Order, in 1890, six years into recovery.]

"St. Francis: Patron of Drunks"

Fr. Joe Tonos

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

http://www.southernfriedcatholicism.com/2011/10/st-francis-patron-of-drunks.html

A while back, a woman came to me and said she wasn't Catholic but she had a devotion to St. Francis. Thinking that she, like many others, knew of St. Francis as the "patron saint of yard ornaments, "I was waiting to hear what she had to say. She then surprised me and said, "He's the patron saint of drunks!" I had not heard that before.

She then explained that in the twelve step program of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), St. Francis' "Peace Prayer" is offered as a prayer to those who are recovering. His prayer is used in the context of "self-searching" on the way to being a better person. His prayer is in the "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" book of AA. The woman was a recovering alcoholic.

Here's an excerpt from the book:

First let’s look at a really good prayer. We won’t have far to seek; the great men and women of all religions have left us a wonderful supply. Here let us consider one that is a classic.

Its author was a man who for several hundred years now as been rated as a saint. We won’t be biased or scared off by that fact, because although he was not an alcoholic he id, like us, go through the emotional wringer. And as he came out the other side of that painful experience, this prayer was his expression of what he could then see, feel, and wish to become:

“Lord, make me a channel of thy peace—that where there is hatred, I may bring love—that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness—that where there is discord, I may bring harmony—that where there is error, I may bring truth—that where there is doubt, I may bring faith—that where there is despair, I may bring hope—that where there are shadows, I may bring light—that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted—to under­stand, than to be understood—to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen.”

As beginners in meditation, we might now reread this prayer several times very slowly, savoring every word and trying to take in the deep meaning of each phrase and idea.

Click here for the direct reference.

The woman concluded her praise of the saint with this, and I paraphrase, "St. Francis was an irascible, ill-tempered man when he could be and he once wrote that, 'When I am at my worst, when I am at odds with everyone and everything, it is then I pause and give God thanks because he has shown me what I would be without his grace.' She then peaceably with a smile said, "He understands us alcoholics."

In response to this posted article, one person stated that "ÄA relies a lot on the St. Francis prayer to remove the alcoholic from his selfish, self-centered ways. Living the AA program is to live a life of service, a life devoted to helping all children of God."

Note: Two sources that dispute that St. Francis was the author of the Peace Prayer can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_Saint_Francis and http://www.franciscan-archive.org/patriarcha/peace.html.

This Drug Addict is a Martyred Saint

[Martyred St. Maximilian Kolbe is typically listed as the patron for drug addicts on multiple Catholic saint websites, not because he was an addict but because he was given a lethal injection of carbolic acid in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. The Chinese martyred layman saint briefly described in this article was an opium addict.]

This Addict is a Saint

by Jim Manney

The Blog of Ignatian Spirituality

September 22, 2011

http://ignatianspirituality.com/10830/this-addict-is-a-saint/

A friend of mine recently sent me a unusual holy card. It honors St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, a Chinese layman who was murdered in 1900, along with dozens of other Catholics in his village, in the vicious persecution of Christians during the Boxer rebellion. That’s not the unusual thing. The Church has canonized many martyrs, including many Chinese martyrs. What’s unusual about St. Mark is that he was an opium addict who was barred from receiving the sacraments for the last 30 years of his life
.

Mark couldn’t receive communion because his addiction was regarded as gravely sinful and scandalous. He prayed for deliverance from his addiction, but deliverance never came. Nevertheless he remained a believing Catholic. At his trial he was given a chance to renounce his faith, but he refused. It is said that he sang the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary as he was led to his execution.

Saints are exemplary people. The Church creates them so we can learn from them. So what can we learn from St. Mark Ji Tianxiang?

For starters, he shows that anybody can become a saint—even a man who was kicked out of the church for giving public scandal. By canonizing him, the Church also signals a different attitude toward addiction than the one St. Mark’s pastors had a century ago. Drug abuse is sinful, but addiction is also a disease of the mind and body. Addicts today are not excluded from the sacraments because they are addicts.

I also marvel at St. Mark’s confidence in the mercy of God. He probably shared the village’s opinion of him—that he was serious sinner who was behaving terribly. He must have felt despair in his futile struggles and perhaps some bitterness too. But he persevered in his faith. I suspect that in his brokenness he met the suffering Christ. In the end, he went to his death confidently, trusting that love would receive him. 
May we all imitate St. Mark.

Matt Talbot, Patron of Labourers

While there are many recognized saints who are listed with multiple and diverse patronages, like St. Monica and St. Joseph, there are some who are known principally for one or two patronages, such as St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe among addicts and prisoners. (While not a drug addict himself, St. Kolbe was killed by Nazis with an injection of carbolic acid in the extermination camp of Auschwitz in 1941.)

Although (yet to be canonized) Venerable Matt Talbot is widely regarded solely as patron for alcoholics, he certainly qualifies as being considered a patron for labourers (laborers/workers), as those in the USA celebrate Labor Day today. Matt did manual labor his entire life, beginning at the age of 12.

St. Monica and Ven. Matt Talbot

Some Catholic saints are associated with particular life situations. Although Venerable Matt Talbot is considered “the patron saint of alcoholics” by many Catholics and “patron saint” websites, he has not been recognized yet by the Roman Catholic Church as an official saint. The most common official saint mentioned is St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine (whose book, Confessions, is the basic source of information about his mother). Besides being the patron saint for alcoholics and alcoholism, she is listed commonly as a patron saint for wives, mothers, victims of verbal abuse, adultery, and difficult marriages, disappointing children, etc.

Today is the Roman Catholic Church Feast Day of St. Monica, although it was previously held on May 4 (and is still held on this date by some other churches).

In reading about St. Monica it is not always mentioned or clear as to why she is considered a patron saint of alcoholics. One exception, however, is suggestive from Butler’s Lives of the Saints, which is excerpted below:

Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May.
The Lives of the Saints. 1866.

St. Monica

332-387 AD

...”THE CHURCH is doubly indebted, under God, to the saint of this day, namely, for the birth, and still more so for the conversion of the great St. Austin; who was more beholden to St. Monica for his spiritual life by grace, than for his corporal life by his birth and education. She was born in 332, in a pious family, and early instructed in the fear of God. She often professed her singular obligations to a virtuous, discreet, maid servant, whom her parents intrusted with the education of their children, and who instilled into them maxims of piety, restrained the least sallies of their passions, and by her prudence, words, and example, inspired them with an early sense and love of every duty. She was so strict in regard to her charge, that, besides making them observe great temperance in their meals, she would not allow them to drink even water at any other times, how great thirst soever they might pretend. She used to say: “You are now for drinking water, but when you come to be mistresses of the cellar, water will be despised, but the habit of drinking will stick by you.” Notwithstanding the prudent care of this tutoress, the young Monica contracted insensibly an inclination to wine: and when she was sent by her parents, who were strangers to it, to draw wine for the use of the family, in taking the liquor out with a cup, she would put her lips to it and sip a little. This she did at first, not out of any intemperate desire of liquor, but from mere youth and levity. However, by adding to this little every day a little more, she overcame the original reluctance she had to wine, and drank whole cups of it with pleasure, as it came in her way. This was a most dangerous intemperance, though it never proceeded to any considerable excess. (1) God watched over his servant to correct her of it, and made use of a servant maid as his instrument; who, having observed it in her young mistress by following her into the cellar, words arising one day between them, she reproached her with it, calling her a wine-bibber. This affected Monica in such a manner, that, entering seriously into herself, she acknowledged, condemned, and from that moment entirely corrected her fault. She after this received baptism, from which time she lived always in such a manner, that she was an odour of edification to all who knew her...”

...Note 1. It is a notorious mistake and misrepresentation, to call this fault the crime of drunkenness, though such a habit insensibly paves the way to the utmost excesses; and this danger of a saint ought to be a powerful warning to deter all persons, especially servants and young people, from a like custom of sipping, how insignificant and trifling soever the first steps towards it may appear. If Monica was awakened before she was brought to the brink of the precipice, this was the effect of a singular grace; and, where she repented, thousands perish, and regardless of every evil, present and future, become the murderers of their bodies, their reason, the fortunes of their family, and their immortal souls. This destroying evil arises from small beginnings neglected..”

.

Source: http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/041.html and http://books.google.com/books?id=56A9AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=temperance++St+Monica&source=bl&ots=l9GtTOhQtk&sig=ZWekIvSFUF1Yws8dIZt2BounzXc&hl=en&ei=V5dSTpLcC-LosQKvsojYBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%20St%20Monica&f=false

Also note: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2007/08/st-monica-avoided-alcoholism-2/ among many other sources.

Notes about other saints who are periodically listed as patrons of alcoholics will appear in future posts.