A Monthly Venerable Matt Talbot Novena Mass

A Venerable Matt Talbot Novena Mass will be celebrated on the first Friday of every month at 7:30 pm at St. Bernadette’s Church, Clogher Road, Dublin 12.

The parish priest is Very Reverend Brian Lawless, P.P. who also continues to serve as the Vice Postulator: Cause of the Venerable Matt Talbot.

One Unique SAINT of the DAY Website Noting Venerable Matt Talbot

Saint of the Day – 7 June: Venerable Matt Talbot OFS

by Ana StPaul

Breathing Catholic

Posted on 7 June 2017
 

This special website begins on one of the following 4 links about Venerable Matt Talbot OFS:

“Venerable Matt Talbot OFS (1856 – 1925) (born Matthew Talbot) – Layman, Ascetic, Mystic – known as the “Saint in Overalls” and “the Workers’ Saint”, disciple of Eucharistic Adoration and the Blessed Virgin –  Patron of Struggling and Recovering Addicts and Alcoholics and many addiction treatment programs, retreats and centres throughout the world bear his name.  His grave is at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Seán McDermott Street, Dublin.”

Saint of the Day--Venerable Matt Talbot OFS (1856 – 1925) https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/saint-of-the-day-7-june-venerable-matt-talbot-ofs/

Thought for the Day--https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/thought-for-the-day-7-june/

Quote/ of the Day – https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/quote-of-the-day-7-june/

One Minute Reflection – https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/one-minute-reflection-7-june/

Note one correction in the above content: Anyone who receives a favour through the intercession of Matt Talbot is requested to write to the current Vice Postulator of the Cause for Canonisation of Matt Talbot who is Fr. Brian Lawless at http://www.matttalbot.ie/contact.htm and/or at frbrian@stagathasparish.ie

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.

2015 Documentary on “Matt Talbot – his life and legacy”

 

A new and important documentary on Venerable Matt Talbot, who died 90 years ago on 7 June 1925, can be viewed at http://www.icatholic.ie/matt-talbot-life-legacy/.

It was recorded at the Matt Talbot Shrine in Dublin, with Fr. Brian Lawless, Vice Postulator for the cause of Venerable Matt Talbot, as the presenter.

Interview about the Beatification of Matt Talbot

Father Brian Lawless talked with Joe Duffy of “Lifeline” at RTE Radio 1 in Ireland on October 03, 2012 “about the cause of Matt Talbot, the Dubliner who is regarded as a patron of those suffering with addiction. Brian is the vice postulator of the cause of Matt Talbot's beatification and spoke about the man's life and experiences and how he has become an inspiration for those in recovery from addictions.” [Programme description]
 

This 20 minute interview can be downloaded at The case for the beatification of Matt Talbot - Fr Brian Lawless - Liveline - RTÉ Radio 1.

Venerable Matt Talbot: A Link in the Chain of Hope

                         

Few of us have the opportunity to hear Fr. Brian Lawless, Vice-Postulator of the Cause for Canonization

of the Venerable Matt Talbot, speak about Matt. Now we do.

During the first half-hour of this informative hour-long program aired January 26, 2012 by HMWN Radio Maria at http://www.hmwn.net/audioarchive/search_results_id.php?title=20071623, Sharon DiCecco interviews Fr. Brian

about Matt’s life, his progress toward canonization, and his relevance for people today.

After a brief musical interlude,

Mrs. DiCecco interviews Michael and Noeleen Murphy, who frequently accompany Fr.

Brian in speaking about Matt Talbot. Michael speaks about his interest in Matt and his work with recovering addicts. Later,

Noeleen shares her very moving experience in coming to know Matt as well as writing and performing her song in its entirety,

In Your Presence Lord “Matt Talbot.” (More information about her song can be found at

http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/2011/04/inspiration-for-song-in-your-presence.html)  Her song can be heard at 53 minutes in the tape at http://www.hmwn.net/audioarchive/search_results_id.php?title=20071623

 

Note: We appreciate such interviews being available free online at http://www.hmwn.net/

The 12 Steps and Catholicism

Earlier this week we posted a letter by Fr. John Bonavitacola about a statue of Matt Talbot as an image of liberty placed on the grounds of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Tempe, Arizona, (http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/2011/01/matt-talbot-as-image-of-liberty.html). In the letter that follows, Fr. John notes that there need not be a conflict between the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Catholicism. (We have previously noted on this resource center site that Fr. Morgan Costelloe, former Vice-Postulator for the Cause of Matt Talbot, has discussed in his book, Matt Talbot: Hope for Addicts (2001, Veritas Publications), Matt's recovery journey in light of the twelve steps, decades before AA was founded. (JB)

Letters from the Pastor
Fr. John Bonavitacola
January 2, 2011
Dear Friends,


Our Annual Mass of Gratitude for the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous takes place Saturday, January 8 at 9am followed by a Pancake Breakfast in the Hall. Come join with those who have been blessed with recovery from addiction with the help of the 12 Steps and their families and friends. Addiction and compulsive behaviors have made the life of many a person and their loved ones unmanageable to varying degrees. Gratefully we live at a moment when recovery is possible in ways that weren't prior to the program that was started by Alcoholics Anonymous.

One of my purposes in making this an annual celebration is to make clear the connection between religion and spirituality that is often severed because of a faulty understanding of 12 Step Programs. I also want to show that you can be in recovery and still be a very good Catholic. In other words there is no conflict between the 12 Steps and Catholicism.

The founders of AA knew that they would fail if they tried to promote their new found success with traditional marketing or advertising. The reason for this was that they understood that anything that would pump up the ego of the alcoholic was extremely dangerous to his sobriety as alcoholics find sobriety only through a process of deflating their overly swollen egos. Humility is essential to recovery. But the problem they faced was how could they manage to have AA accepted as a legitimate moral program and not be seen as some fringe or cult-like group if they refused to promote it?


After publishing the book Alcoholics Anonymous, a Jesuit priest named Fr. Ed Dowling happened to get a copy and he marveled at the similarity between the 12 Steps and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Fr. Dowling managed to track down Bill W, the cofounder of AA, which was not so easy since AA at that time was very strict about the anonymity of its members. He knocked on Bill W’s door on a very windy New York evening and Bill’s first thought after seeing the disheveled priest was that this was another drunk looking for help! Fr. Dowling wanted to know where Bill had gotten these 12 Steps and if he used any of St. Ignatius works. Bill, a bit confused by the question admitted he had no idea what the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius were. At that point both men began to realize that God was doing something big in the history of spirituality. All AA did was arrange the spiritual principles that the ages had handed on down in a new way that enabled alcoholics to recover. Fr. Dowling, and many other clergymen endorsed the program of AA giving it the needed nod from organized religion.

Bill W continued a friendship with Fr. Ed and often consulted many other clergymen so as to make sure the new program of AA was on solid spiritual grounds. Bill also would frequently stress that AA was not a substitute for religion and that AA would be forever in debt to the religious men and women who nurtured AA at its beginning. And in the book, "Alcoholics Anonymous,"  members are encouraged to return to their places of worship where they will find “new avenues of usefulness and pleasure” and where they and their families can be “bright spots” in their congregations. In other words the recovered person and their recovered family can offer much to those who sit in the pews with them and still suffer because of alcoholism or addiction. Thank you to the many, many recovered members of our parish and their families who have so generously shared their “experience, strength and hope” of pain and healing with those who still suffer in our parish. Remember you never know when you will be needed to help another, but you can’t help another if you are not there to pass it on!


And to the families whose loved ones have died as a direct result of alcoholism or addiction or who are still wounded by the scars of this disease please come and pray with us for your loved ones. Together let us continue to “trudge the road of happy destiny”. Until January 8 may God bless you and keep you!


"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next."
Amen. -- Reinhold Niebuhr


Source: 2011, Jan 2, 2011 - Annual Mass of Gratitude 

Note: The prayer at the end of this letter is known as "The Serenity Prayer" in its "long- form."

Imagining Matt's Tenement Room

In contrast to Flora Mitchell's commemorative painting of Matt Talbot's room (THREE WORKS COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF MATT TALBOT, the second photograph is of "a typical room in a tenement, not unlike the room in which Matt Talbot would have lived," according to the St. Agatha's Parish, Dublin, website (http://www.stagathasparish.ie/archive-pictures/1918-1928). St. Agatha is a church where Matt regularly attended mass and where the current parish priest is Fr. Brian Lawless, the current Vice-Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Matt Talbot.

Matt Talbot Birthplace Plaque

The birthplace plaque of Matt Talbot was unveiled in Dublin on 30, November, 2010.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordmayor/5221552752/in/set-72157625501139358/ (By Lord Mayor of Dublin's photostream) Additional photographs of the unveiling are available at this link.

It would appear that the image of Matt Talbot on this plaque is the preferred one of the Dublin Diocesan Matt Talbot Committee, whose Executive Chairman is V. Rev. Brian Lawless, Vice-Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Matt Talbot.

"Matt Talbot, hope for addicts"

By Brian Hooks

The Catholic Weekly (Sydney)

7 October 2001

Pope Paul said in 1977 he was keen to beatify Venerable Matthew Talbot, Hope of Addicts, within a year or two.

And Pope John Paul II is equally supportive.

But the struggle goes on, as Dublin priest Fr Morgan Costelloe, Vice-Postulator for the cause of Matt Talbot, scours the world for evidence of the physical miracle the Vatican requires.

Fr Costelloe began his work in 1974 and is the third man to take the job, since the campaign began in 1931, just six years after Matt’s death.

Matt Talbot was venerated in 1975. His life is a wonderful example of God’s Grace.

Hopelessly addicted to alcohol at the age of 28, and filled with shame, Matt resolved to change his life. With the help of the Jesuits and the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius, Matt was able to.

Now his example has become a shining light of hope to others caught in a web of addiction.

“They think, ‘if God could do this for Matt Talbot, he can do it for me’,” Fr Costelloe said. “Alcoholics can identify with Matt because he went through all the horrors, the shivers, the shakes, the cold turkey.

“The Pope said he’s convinced Matt’s the man chosen by God to be the patron saint of addicts.

“And if you look at the list of patron saints there’s no patron saint for addicts.

“And when you look at Church history, whenever there’s a problem, God produced somebody.”

In spite of the many thousands of addicts cured with Matt’s help – up to 40,000 people go through the American Matt Talbot Retreat Movement every year – the Vatican is looking for a physical miracle. With advances in medical science these are very difficult to come by.

Any suggestion of a miracle attributable to Matt’s intervention goes first to Fr Costelloe and, if it’s worthwhile, on to the Vatican. Despite what Fr Costelloe labels “close calls” his search continues.

Fr Costelloe’s housekeeper thinks his search is in vain.

“That feller will never perform a physical miracle, he’s too busy looking after his boozing mates,” she told him.

It is in his very ordinariness that so many see Matt as inspiration.

When he began the task, Fr Costelloe met people who had known Matt Talbot early in their lives.

“One lady said to me one day: ‘I knew Matt Talbot, and he couldn’t be a saint’.

“I asked ‘why not?’ and she said: ‘Because he didn’t look like one’.

“I asked, ‘what did he look like?’ and she gave me a wonderful answer: ‘He looked like one of us’.”

Source: http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/01/oct/7/story_6.html

Note: Fr. Morgan Costelloe, author of "Matt Talbot: Hope for Addicts" (1987; 2001) and "The Mystery of Matt Talbot" (1981) is now retired, and Fr. Brian Lawless is the current Vice- Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Matt Talbot.
Key to Matt Talbot's recovery from alcoholism was turning his life over to the care of God.

2010 Dublin Diocesan Matt Talbot Committee

The current Matt Talbot Committee's Executive Chairman is V. Rev. Brian Lawless, the new Vice-Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Matt Talbot. (JB)

2010 DUBLIN DIOCESAN MATT TALBOT COMMITTEE
Chairman: Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Executive Chairman: V. Rev. Brian Lawless
Email: frbrian@stagathasparish.ie

Secretary: Appointment Pending

Members: Mr. Patrick Behan, Mr. Thomas Brennan,
Brother Christopher Carroll, Mrs. Patricia Ferrari,
Mr. Anthony Malone, Mrs. Mary McCann,
Rev. Bernard McGuckian, S.J.,Mr. Gerard McLaughlin,
Mr. Bernard Nolan, V. Rev. Michael Casey, Adm.
Paula Murray, Vera Brady.

New Vice-Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Matt Talbot appointed

According to the new Official Matt Talbot website (http://www.procathedral.ie/matt-talbot) and a

confirmation email from the former Vice-Postulator, Rev. Damian O'Reilly, a new Vice-Postulator has been announced in Dublin.

As noted on the website, "Favours received through the intercession of the Venerable Matt Talbot should be notified as soon as possible to the Vice Postulator:

Very Reverend Brian Lawless, Adm

Parish of St. Agatha

North William Street

Dublin 1.

His email address is frbrian@stagathasparish.ie

Matt Talbot Sunday 2008

For those in or near Dublin, Ireland on June 1, 2008, there will be a Matt Talbot Sunday Mass at 4 p.m. at the Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Sean McDermott Steet. Matt's remains were enshrined in this church in 1972.

Fr. Damian O'Reilly, Vice-Postulator of the Cause for the Venerable Matt Talbot, will be the celebrant.

The church's website is http://parishes.dublindiocese.ie/seanmcdermott/

Matt Talbot Committee

	Some of the articles that have been posted on this site refer to the "Matt Talbot Committee," which is directly involved in furthering the cause of Matt Talbot for sainthood. Its 2008 membership follows: DUBLIN DIOCESAN MATT TALBOT COMMITTEE Chairman: Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin Executive Chairman: Rev. Damian O’Reilly, Vice Postulator Secretary: Rev. Philip O’Driscoll, C.C. Members: Mr. Patrick Behan, Mr. Thomas Brennan, Brother Christopher Carroll, Mrs. Patricia Ferrari, V. Rev. Brendan Quinlan, P.P., Mr. Anthony Malone, Mrs. Mary McCann, Rev. Bernard McGuckian, S.J., Mr. Gerard McLaughlin, Mr. Bernard Nolan, V. Rev. Michael Casey, Adm. Mr. Charles Sydner, Paula Murray, Vera Brady. Source: http://www.dublindiocese.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1088&Itemid=505

Resource Center blessing

We thank Rev. Damian O'Reilly, Vice-Postulator of the Cause for the Venerable Matt Talbot in Dublin, Ireland, for his blessing on the Venerable Matt Talbot Resource Center, blogspot, and you, the reader. (JB)

----- Original Message -----

From: Fr. Damian

To: John Blair

Cc: Fr. Damian

Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 12:16 PM

Subject: Website blessing

John

I pray God's blessing on this wonderful work you have undertaken with this web site. I pray that all who log on to this site may be blessed with the power of God's love and peace in particular all those who are under the burden of alcoholism.

My very best wishes to you for Christmas and the new year.

Damian