A Reflection on the Chains that Bind You

Using the example of Venerable Matt Talbot, the author, an attorney in private practice in New York City, asks you to reflect on the chains that bind you.

 

Finding Freedom Within Our Chains

Tom Zampino

February 15, 2016

http://www.catholicconspiracy.com/tomzampino/2016/02/15/finding-freedom-within-our-chains/

To what are you addicted? What is it that holds you down, as if a prisoner?

Which are the chains that bind you?

You don’t have to say it out loud. No one need hear you.

You can even deny that anyone ever posed the question.

I won’t say anything.

But come clean. Right now.

After all, it’s just you, alone, reading some words on a screen, right?

Is it pornography? Alcohol? Gambling? Anger? Money? Junk television? Your knee-jerk reaction to those little things which constantly tick you off – every . . . single . . . time?

Look, we all struggle with some form of addiction.

For some, it’s a defining characteristic. 

For others, our addictions hold us back from being – becoming, really – our better selves.

We are all, to one degree or another, chained.

Matt Talbot (1856-1925) was someone who knew a lot about the chains of addiction. He had become a “hopeless alcoholic” by age thirteen. Savior.org gives us a quick background:

Matthew Talbot was born on May 2, 1856, the second of 12 siblings, in Dublin, Ireland. He had three sisters and nine brothers, three of whom died young. His father Charles was a dockworker and his mother, Elizabeth, was a housewife. When Matthew was about 12 years old, he started to drink alcohol. His father was a known alcoholic as well as all his brothers. The eldest brother, John, was the exception. Charles tried to dissuade Matthew with severe punishments but without success.

An unskilled laborer, Talbot struggled, until age 28, not only with drink, but with a fierce temper and criminal behavior that fed into his addiction.

Then things changed.

Suddenly.

And for the next forty years, Talbot was a new man.

Eventually, Talbot became a Third Order Franciscan, spent many hours in prayer, and lived the life of an ascetic. He’s even on the road to sainthood.

But here’s my point.

Talbot was never actually freed from his chains.

No.

But he did, literally, exchange them.

You see, it was revealed upon his death that for some period of time after his conversion, Talbot had worn physical chains around his body. Why?

The chains . . . were not some extreme penitential regime but a symbol of his devotion to Mary, Mother of God that he wished to give himself to her totally as a slave. This life was his prayer to God and his defense against a reversion to alcoholism.

Freedom from addiction.

Freedom through – freedom because of – his chains.

Talbot had exchanged the chains of addiction for new ones: chains that he chose; chains which led him directly to freedom.

So permit me to ask once again:

Which are the chains that bind you?

Remembering Venerable Matt Talbot Today on Trinity Sunday

It was on Trinity Sunday, 7 June 1925, that Matt Talbot collapsed and died of heart failure while walking in Granby Lane to a Mass in St.Savior's Church on Dominic Street, Dublin.
 
In his article posted earlier today at http://scottdodge.blogspot.com/2016/05/remembering-venerable-matt-talbot-on.html,

Deacon Scott reminds us to join him “in praying that Papa Begoglio, who will visit Ireland in 2018, in his paternal tenderness, will make Matt Blessed. His intercession works miracles all the time."

Terry Nelson's latest Venerable Matt Talbot painting

Terry describes his third (but not his last) attempt to "capture" Matt Talbot on canvas. Thank you, Terry.

Source: http://abbey-roads.blogspot.com/2016/05/my-latest-matt-talbot-painting.html

 

Matt Talbot

T. Nelson 2016

I finished the Talbot painting - almost, I have some more glazing to do, shading - but the figure and composition is pretty much finished.  I hope to frame it importantly.  I did a quick 'fuzzy' shot of the canvas, as shown above.  It came off a bit too light.

I read that he was an 'undersized, wiry man,' and a laborer.  I read he wore his working clothes everywhere - so I imagined a jacket and collarless shirt, a bit worn - just as I always depict him.  The difference this time is that I have him balding more than in my other paintings.  There are a couple of early paintings, one by a religious sister, depicting him bald, and I wanted to do so as well.  My composition is spare - a few religious mementos and scraps of paper, upon which it is said Matt would make spiritual notes - a small statue of Our Lady of Lourdes and holy cards of Therese and Catherine of Siena comprise the 'still life' on the mantel.  Above these, a very small image of OL of Perpetual Help hanging by a string.  Matt stands in front of the tall, narrow tenement mantel, upon which these poor possessions are displayed.  Interrupted in his devotion, clutching a crucifix, he looks out at the viewer.

As I painted, I had in mind a young Irish man I had met at Lourdes years ago.  He wasn't very tall either - but a handsome man, and something about him reminded me of how Matt might have been at the time of his conversion.  I tried to imagine him in his 60's now, and made a sort of composite of images of Matt Talbot and my recollection of the man from Lourdes.  The face developed rather quickly.  The paint is quite thin - not as layered as I normally would paint - and suddenly this face appeared, which startled me.  I don't know how I did it, where it came from, or how it came together so swiftly.

Anyway.  Quirky as it is, this is my third attempt to paint venerable Matt Talbot.

A Saint in Waiting: Venerable Matt Talbot

by Fr Richard Ebejer  

Pioneer, April 2015, page 21

http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/images/stories/pioneercovers/magazine/april2015.pdf

“We are commemorating the ninetieth anniversary of the death of Venerable Matt Talbot this year. Coming from a poor and deprived background, Matt found himself sucked into the culture of addiction and embraced alcohol as a means of escape from the misery and poverty of daily life. Today, we live in an age of addictions more sophisticated than ever before; addiction to alcohol and a wide range of drugs. All these have the ability to destroy our lives and often end up eating away at our very souls as well.

Matt Talbot came to a realisation of how his life was being wasted, and from the time of his conversion as a young man of twenty-eight years of age, he spent the rest of his life living to a heroic extent the Christian virtues through prayer, spiritual reading, work and acts of charity.

We believe that Matt has a strong message for today, and can be a role model to the young people of our time. His life is a testimony of how people can, by God’s grace and their own self-acceptance, say 'no' to that which leads to addiction or addictive behaviour. Matt sets before us a radical example, which demonstrates how young people,in particular, can do

extraordinary things.

The message of Matt Talbot is a call to conversion, a call to change our lives, letting go of our particular attachments while giving God a place in our lives. In promoting his devotion, one is extending this message of conversion to all who come in touch with his life. We are encouraging you to keep his memory alive in your own parish and within the Pioneer Association by promoting his devotion.”

‘For Matt, the Pioneer Association was a source of support and encouragement, but just as important it gave him the opportunity to support others suffering from alcoholism through his daily Pioneer Offering of prayer on their behalf. Matt understood the human condition with all it's weakness and frailties. He once said to his sister Susan, "never think harshly of a person because of the drink. it's easier to get out of hell than to give up the drink. For me it was only possible with the help of God and our blessed Mother".’

Prayer for the Canonisation of 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
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.

 

Note: Fr. Ebejer is the administrator at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Dublin, location of the Matt Talbot Shrine.

Portrait of a Young Matt Talbot

Grzegorz Jakielski posted this portrait (and text) of Matt Talbot on his English Facebook page earlier today at 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Matt-Talbot/304690079653019

“Some time ago I found the information on the web that in the Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary in the Różanystok has a painting of Venerable Matt Talbot. I went more than 250 km to find out about whether the information is true. The information proved to be true.

Unfortunately, the pastor had no information who is the artist of the painting or when it was hung in the Sanctuary.”

Note: Grzegorz’s Polish sites devoted to Venerable Matt Talbot are https://pl-pl.facebook.com/SlugaBozyMateuszTalbot
and http://www.mateusztalbot.pl 
Additional photographs of this painting of Matt Talbot in Różanystok can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.888360084619346.1073741837.304690079653019&type=3 and http://www.mateusztalbot.pl/strony/rozanystok.html

A Walking Tour

One of the Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland

events for May 2016 is The Monto Walking Tour,

Sunday 8 May (http://www.nationalgallery.ie/supportus/Friends/~/media/Files/Friends/Friends_Events_Guide_Mar-May_2016.pdf)

Join local historian,Terry Fagan, North Inner City Folklore Project, on a ramble around Dublin’s Monton: an area stretching from Foley Street to Sean McDermott Street which was famous as a red light district. We will hear stories of locals who lived in the tenements, notorious madams, the man with the hidden secret dubbed ‘Dublin’s Oskar Schindler,’ the Venerable Matt Talbot whose shrine we shall visit and events linked to the 1913 Lockout and the struggle for Irish Independence as we walk these streets which are steeped in history.

Meet at Connolly Station at 11 am. Concludes at approximately 12:30 pm.

  

160th Anniversary of Venerable Matt Talbot’s Birth

Matthew was born on 2 May 1856 at 13 Aldborough Court, Dublin, Ireland, the second eldest of twelve children of Charles and Elizabeth Talbot. He was baptized three days later at St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral.

300th Anniversary of the Death of St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Today is the 300th anniversary of the death of St. Louis Marie de Montfort (31 Jan 1673 - 28 Apr 1716), a saint whose writings were especially influential in the life of Matt Talbot. Reading his classic, True Devotion to Mary, is particularly helpful in our understanding of some of Matt’s spiritual practices.

Note: three informative references among many:

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/joseph-pronechen/on-his-300th-anniveresary-21-things-louis-de-montfort-said-about-the-r1

http://catholicexchange.com/rosary-advice-from-st-louis-de-montfort?mc_cid=8e5481149a&mc_eid=318db96c1c

http://www.montfort.org.uk/index.php

Availability of Venerable Matt Talbot Relic Cards

The Calix Society now offers Venerable Matt Talbot Relic cards on their online store at http://www.calixsociety.org/store.

 

The size of a business card when folded, these cards include a photo of the Matt Talbot statue in Dublin, a 3rd Class relic cloth, a prayer for Matt’s intercession and his canonization prayer.

 

The card can be viewed at http://www.philly-calix.com/MT_Relic_Card.pdf

Prayers for Help

Earlier this year, author and compiler Marie Noel published Prayers for Help, a paperback consisting of more than 330 prayers applicable to a wide variety of life situations.

In Chapter 22: “To Abstain from Alcohol,” she offers prayers related to addiction and Venerable Matt Talbot, which can be read at http://www.amazon.com/Prayers-Help-Marie-Noel/dp/194118412X/ref=sr_1_88?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460335859&sr=188&keywords=matt+talbot#reader_194118412X

A Special Likeness of Venerable Matt Talbot

A few days ago we posted an announcement about the 2 April 2016 MATT TALBOT JUBILEE YEAR PILGRIMAGE at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Dublin (http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/2016/03/matt-talbot-jubileeyearpilgrimage.html). 

 

Details and photographs from this special day, which includes this “strikingly beautiful likeness of Matt and a crucifix from his home,” is available at http://asmorningrising.blogspot.com/2016/04/venerable-matt-talbot.html?spref=bl.

 

 

 

 

MATT TALBOT JUBILEE YEAR PILGRIMAGE

The Dublin Mystic: Matt Talbot

by K. V. Turley*

March 17, 2016

http://catholicexchange.com/the-dublin-mystic-matt-talbot

On 8 June 1925, the following news item appeared in the Irish Independent:

Unknown Man’s Death

An elderly man collapsed in Granby Lane [Dublin] yesterday, and being taken to Jervis Street Hospital he was found to be dead. He was wearing a tweed suit, but there was nothing to indicate who he was. 

What was not reported was the unusual discovery when he was taken to hospital. He was wearing heavy chains: some wrapped around his legs, others on his body. Mortuary staff puzzled over not just who he was but, also, the meaning of the chains.

The newspaper report had appeared on a Monday morning. Later that night, police ushered a woman into the mortuary. She identified the body as that of her brother: Matt Talbot. A nursing nun present asked about the chains. The dead man’s sister replied simply that it was something he wore, and with that, they were placed in the coffin and the lid closed.

That was not the whole story though; the chains were part of the mystery of the man who had died. They were as symbolic as they were real. The man’s life having been a ‘crossing over’ from the servitude of vice to the freedom of those in chains for Christ.

Talbot was born in 1856 into a large Catholic family living in semi-poverty in Dublin. His schooling was slight. He was barely literate when he went to work full-time aged just 11 years old. For the rest of his life his occupation was as an unskilled labourer. He was exposed to harsh working conditions, at times harsh bosses and to a social environment that necessitated some form of release from this – this was found by many in the city’s public houses. Matt was no different, so much so that by his teenage years he was hopelessly addicted to alcohol.

Matt had the reputation of being a hard worker. Increasingly, however, that work ethic was simply the means to finance his ‘hard drinking’. As it grips, vice of whatever sort is hard to counter, especially when the will to oppose it diminishes, so it was with Matt Talbot – what had began as an escape soon became a prison of moral and spiritual degradation. And, the more time he spent there the more Matt needed alcohol to shield him from that reality. Those around watched and, shaking their heads, concluded that Talbot was a lost cause. But they were to be proved wrong and in a most unexpected way.

Fittingly, the second phase of Matt’s life began outside a pub. That day he had no money, and, therefore, hoped that some of his drinking fraternity would stand him a drink. As each acquaintance filed past, none offered to buy him anything. On that summer’s day in 1884, something occurred that was to change Matt Talbot forever. Humiliated by the indifference of his erstwhile friends, he turned and walked straight home. His mother was surprised to see him – at that early hour, and sober. He proceeded to clean himself up before announcing he was going to a nearby seminary to ‘take the pledge’ – a promise to abstain from all alcohol. His mother was mystified by this and fearful. She knew that pledges made to God were not something to be taken lightly. She counselled him against doing any such thing unless he was intent on persevering. He listened, and then left.

Matt did take the pledge that day. He also went to Confession. It was as dramatic as it was decisive. It had all the hallmarks of a genuine conversion, one as sincere as it was needed. Nevertheless, a conversion takes but a moment, the work of sanctity a lifetime: after years of drunkenness, still arraigned against Matt was a weakness of character and a world that revolved around alcohol. It looked as if the odds were stacked against him, but this was not solely a human undertaking. Into this ‘land of captivity’, from ‘across the Jordan’, there came invisible armies to fight alongside this now embattled soul, one embarked upon a war of liberation. This was not a new spiritual combat, but rather one that had commenced many years previously when this poor man’s parents brought a child to a parish church and asked for baptism in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

After his conversion, not much changed, outwardly at least: Matt continued with his employment in the docks. He continued to work hard, now respected more than ever by his fellow workers and employers who noticed that he had started to give his wages to his mother rather than straight to a publican. Nevertheless, work alone cannot satisfy the human heart. Previously, when not working his life had been many hours spent in public houses, but, now, he had turned his back on that. He had been ‘born anew’, but like a newborn was vulnerable to the world he inhabited. With no material substance to cling to he turned inward, to the Spirit that dwells within each baptised soul. And, as he did so, he commenced upon an adventure that few could have imagined possible.

From then on, along the Dublin streets, there moved a mystic soul. Each morning at 5AM, dressed in workman’s clothes a man knelt outside a city church waiting for the doors to open and the first Mass to begin. After the Holy Sacrifice, he would pray for a time before going to one of the timber yards near the docks. There, he laboured all day; but there were periods in the day when lulls and breaks would occur. Whilst his fellow workers gossiped or smoked, Matt chose to be alone, knelt in prayer in a hidden part of a workshop until the call came to return to his labours.

***

Each evening, when work was finished, Matt walked home with his fellow workers. They knew their companion’s free time was spent praying in some city church before the Blessed Sacrament. Often he asked them to join him in making a visit to Our Blessed Lord. Some did. After a short while, however, they would leave with Matt still knelt in the gathering twilight. Eventually, when at night he did return home it was to yet more prayer – and mortification. His bed was a plank of wood, a piece of that same material his pillow. Although respected by those he lived amongst and worked alongside, and not unfriendly, he had few visitors. Those who did encounter him felt he was not quite of this world; they were right; he was travelling ever inwards on a mystical journey to a freedom he could never have dreamt of when trapped in an alcoholic stupor.

When his belongings were found after his death, one of the surprises was the number of books he owned. Inquires soon revealed that he had slowly, but determinedly, taught himself to read and, as he did so, effectively began a course of study that included the spiritual classics, the lives of Saints, doctrinal books, and works of mystical and ascetical theology. When asked how he, a poor workman, could read the works of St. Augustine, Newman et al, his reply was as straightforward as it was telling. He said he asked the Holy Spirit to enlighten him. And so, he grew in an intellectual understanding of his faith, which in turn deepened the prayer and penance he undertook. Here was a 20^th Century heir to the spiritual traditions of the ancient Irish monks, albeit one now living not on an island monastery but in the slums of Dublin, but, like those earlier contemplatives his life was work, study and prayer with eyes turned ever inward to the Holy Trinity.

Matt never married; held no position of note, was unknown outside his own small circle of family and friends – only one blurred photograph has survived him- and, yet, this was a rare man: one who had taken the Gospel at its word and lived it.

His lifetime ran alongside the then momentous events in Irish history. A time of cultural renaissance and nationalist fervour, of a Great Strike in 1913 and open revolution in 1916, of the Great War and a War for Independence, throughout it all his life remained largely unchanged. Matt knew all too well that kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, but that he had set his face to serve a different Kingdom, one shown him in 1884 when he confessed all and cast himself into the hands of the Living God.

By 1925, Matt was 69. He had been in poor health for some time. Out of necessity he tried to continue working as there was only limited relief for the poor or elderly, but his strength was failing. Nevertheless, he persisted in his prayer and penance. On 7 June 1925, whilst struggling down a Dublin alleyway on his way to Mass, he fell. A small crowd gathered around him. A Dominican priest was called from the nearby church, the one where Matt had been hurrying. The priest came and knelt over the fallen man. Realising what had happened, he lifted his hand in a blessing for the final journey. Little did he realise the dead stranger lying in front of him had already been on that ‘journey’ for over 40 years.

Having lived in the intimacy of the Triune God, it was apt Matt died on Trinity Sunday. Having lived off the Eucharist daily for more than 40 years, it was equally fitting he was buried on the feast of Corpus Christi.

Decades later, a visiting Italian priest went privately to pray at the grave of the Dublin worker he had heard so much about. In 1975, and after the due process had been completed, that same cleric, now Pope Paul VI, bestowed a new title upon that Irish workman: Venerable Matt Talbot.

There is a large trunk in the safe keeping of the Archdiocese of Dublin. It contains the books owned by Venerable Matt Talbot. A veritable treasury of spiritual theology, one of the books contained therein is True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort. In its pages it reflects on being a slave to this world or to the Blessed Virgin. For those that choose the latter path it recommends, after due recourse to a spiritual director and the suitable enrolment, that a chain be worn to symbolise that that soul no longer belongs to the powers of darkness but is now a child of the light. On that June day in 1925, when Matt Talbot fell upon a Dublin street, it was dressed as a slave to Mary and as an ambassador of Christ.

*K. V. Turley is a London based freelance writer and filmmaker with a degree in theology.

A Note on Moral Miracles

John Thavis, one of the world’s leading Vaticanologists, has recently published a most perceptive and highly readable book, The Vatican Prophecies: Investigating Supernatural Signs, Apparitions, and Miracles in the Modern Age (2015). 

 

In Chapter 7, '’The Miracle Trail,’' Travis discusses the Vatican’s current view on moral miracles as being too ambiguous and ephemeral as illustrated in the cause of Matt Talbot, which can be read a https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Vatican_Prophecies.html?id=QsdJBgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en#v=onepage&q=matt%20talbot&f=false. The paragraph concludes: “Moreover, most recovering alcoholics or addicts have been through some form of treatment. Discerning precisely what prompted an alcoholic to abandon the bottle was simply beyond the competence of the Vatican’s experts.”

 

A physical miracle involving Matt Talbot, however, would keep his cause perhaps more active and likely,  e.g., http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/search?q=physical+miracle

Mary Purcell's Writings on Matt Talbot

Mary Purcell (1906-1991), renown biographer of Matt Talbot and other holy individuals and saints, published two booklets and two books about Matt. A nine page booklet titled The Making of Matt Talbot  (1972) can be read at https://issuu.com/messengerpublications/docs/the_making_of_matt_talbot. An expanded 32 page edition with the same title can be read at https://lxoa.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/mattalbot.pdf.

Extensive biographies of Matt Talbot by Ms. Purcell are Matt Talbot and His Times (1977) and Remembering Matt Talbot (1990). While these two books are still available for purchase online, there is now an online copy of Matt Talbot and His Times at  https://issuu.com/aidtothechurchinneed/docs/matt_talbot_times

An Informative Booklet About Venerable Matt Talbot

Nearly two years ago, we posted information about a “Profile in Heroic Virtue” article featuring Venerable Matt Talbot by the Dead Theologians Society at http://venerablematttalbotresource center.blogspot.com/search?q=Dead+Theologians+Society.

This society has also published a series of Booklets on the Saints, including a very worthwhile twelve page introduction, including photographs, about the life and inspiration of Matt Talbot. Also included is a catechetical reflection regarding addiction based on Genesis 3. The download pdf is available at  http://www.acnire land.org/dts/dts_matt.pdf.

Interior View of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Dublin

For those who have not yet visited the Shrine of Venerable Matt Talbot within Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Sean McDermott Street,  Dublin 1, Ireland, click this Google Map link for viewing:

https://www.google.pl/maps/@53.35421,-6.2532498,3a,76.8y,259.67h,81.2t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-CKER2AXtxqM%2FVh5MTuNJruI%2FAAAAAAAAF2o%2FZ6WS4FPM27M!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-CKER2AXtxqM%2FVh5MTuNJruI%2FAAAAAAAAF2o%2FZ6WS4FPM27M%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i8704!8i4352

Note: We thank Grzegorz Jakielski for posting this link on February 11, 2016 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Matt-Talbot/304690079653019.

Reminder: 2016 Pilgrimage in Ireland with Venerable Matt Talbot’s Vice Postulator

As we posted last September at http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/search/label/pilgrimage, the Philadelphia units of The Calix Society announced a one-of-a-kind  pilgrimage to Ireland with Fr. Brian Lawless, Vice Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Matt Talbot, which is scheduled for June 19 to June 30, 2016.

If you are interested and have not signed up, the above link has pilgrimage details.

Day of Prayer for Temperance

The complete News Feed is available at

http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2016/02/04/temperance-brings-balance-and-prevents-excess-getting-a-grip-bishop-eamonn-walsh/

Sunday 7 February 2016 is a Day of Prayer for Temperance, a day which offers us an opportunity to reflect on our relationship with alcohol and a day on which we can take time to pray for those who suffer from addiction.

Writing about temperance in the current issue of Intercom magazine Bishop Éamonn Walsh, Vice-chair of the Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative said:

We live in a world where many people wish to march to the beat of their own drum. Where freedom and tolerance means, ‘let me do what I want and you can do what you want, as long as it does not interfere with my freedom’. When a society takes down the protective banks so that everyone can be totally free, we could easily become a lazy lake with people floating around doing their own thing but really going nowhere. Once there is a focus in life, floating aimlessly disappears. A purpose develops with its own safeguards, priorities and balance. It is this balance that we associate with temperance. It may demand sacrifices to attain a goal for self or others. Once the habit of temperance is formed in one area of life, it can be drawn on whenever required.

Temperance has an unpopular image, it is perceived as a restrictive, a sort of kill-joy and spoil sport. Nothing could be further from the reality. Temperance brings balance and prevents excess getting a grip. Bad tempered behaviour or intemperate language is neither accepted in sport nor in social behaviour. Society is all too aware of how drugs, including alcohol, have done such damage to sport, recreation, working and family life. It has become so difficult for people to resist the culture of artificial and chemical enhancement for all kinds of performances and entertainment.

See Intercom February 2106 article on Temperance by Bishop Eamonn Walsh at http://www.catholicbishops.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Intercom-February-2016-article-on-Temperance-by-Bishop-%C3%89amonn-Walsh..pdf

Parish Resource for Temperance Sunday

• Father Mathew’s Prayer

Apostle of Temperance Father Mathew (1790-1856) was a Capuchin friar from Tipperary whose 19^thcentury crusade against the abuse of alcohol gained him the title of  “Apostle of Temperance”. Father Mathew’s call to sobriety has relevance to modern Ireland. The cost to the nation by way of, human suffering, abstention from work, criminality and social upheaval is inestimable.

Compassionate Lord and Saviour,
you inspired the Capuchin Friar Theobold Mathew
to show your compassionate face to those addicted
and burdened by the abuse of alcohol or addicted behavior,
and to promote temperance.
May we today, continue to serve our brothers and sisters with love and joy,
And to foster balance, and moderation in our life styles with the help of God.
So, we pray, “here goes in the name of God.”
Amen

First Friday Venerable Matt Talbot Novena Masses

Reminder Matt Talbot Novena and Prayers for Healing   will take place     5th February, 4th March & 1st April 2016 at 7:30 pm  St. Agatha Parish, North William Street, Dublin.      http://www.stagathasparish.ie/