People have multiple reasons
for visiting the tomb of Venerable Matt Talbot. For this daughter it
was to fulfill a
request of her father with 40 years of sobriety.
“For now, I’ll simply mention that when we returned to
Dublin on August 29, Barb satisfied a request of her father and sought out the
church (Our Lady of Lourds) that contains the crypt of Matt Talbot, 1856-1925.
Although not a formal saint, he is known as the patron saint of alcoholics.
After 16 years of alcoholism he maintained 40 years of
sobriety. Barb arrived just as the priest was locking the doors of the church
but he was more than willing to keep it open to show her around and to share
with her information about Matt Talbot. The priest said that many people from
overseas stop in because of Matt Talbot but most are from the USA and Canada.
He brought out a chain that Talbot wore as a symbol of his devotion to the
Church and had Barb put her hand on the box containing the chain while he said a
prayer for her family. Her father should be pleased.”
Source: http://tusentakk2.com/wordpress/2013/09/dublin-ireland-august-23-24-29-2013/#
for text and 3 Matt Talbot related photographs.