Spiritual Resources for Addicts, Families, and Loved Ones

As we begin a new decade, let us consider spiritual resources for those who have an addiction as well as for their families and loved ones. The source for these beneficial resources is available at https://www.hbgdiocese.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Spiritual_Resources_-_Addiction.pdf

The contents include scripture passages, prayers for recovery,  Rosary meditations for help with addictions, Stations of the Cross for 12-step recovery, novena to the Holy Spirit for addictions and recovery, patron saints for addiction and related issues, and other helpful links and resources.

Reference to Matt Talbot and The Rosary

Psalter of Mary

By Msgr. Francis J. Weber

September 20, 2016

http://angelusnews.com/articles/where-do-catholics-fit-in-our-mosaic

“It used to be the practice of Pope Pius IX* to wander off by himself through the endless corridors of the Vatican Museum and Art Gallery. One day he came upon a group of tourists looking intently at some paintings by Murillo.

   
“Do you like them,” the pontiff asked. Everyone nodded, but no one spoke. “Well,” said Pio Nono, “How would you like for the Holy Father to show you the most valued of all the treasures here in the Vatican?”

To that question, they all shouted back a hearty “yes.” Then the pope slowly opened his palm to reveal a simple little black rosary, its beads worn from years of use. “There it is,” he said, “a treasure which means more to the Church than all the others combined.”

Those who look upon the Acts of the Apostles as the earliest history of the Church would surely regard the fifteen decades of Our Lady’s Rosary as the “second oldest” and most accurate record of God’s relationship with His People. 

Stamped with the seal of centuries, ladened with the richest of indulgences and recommended by all the spiritual writers, the Rosary resembles a portable chapel, wherein the  human family maintains unbroken contact with heaven – irrespective of time, place or condition.

So it is that in times of Sorrow, the distressed client of Mary counts off the beads much the same as Christ numbered the cobblestones along the way to Calvary. In times of Temptation, the besieged Christian recalls how the youthful David overcame the giant Goliath with a handmade sling and a fistful of rocks. In times of Stress, the troubled believer ponders the effects of the Rosary as it passed through the chemically-stained fingers of Louis Pasteur, the ink-darkened hands of Joyce Kilmer and the drink infested grasp of Matt Talbot.

The Rosary cuts across the whole gambit of salvation history. No other prayer in all of Christendom embraces a wider or more expressive array of God’s relation with His People.

The Joyful mysteries encompass the announcement of humankind’s salvation, the concern of Our Lady for her kinfolk, the coming of Christ to His People, the presentation of the Messias in the Temple and the appearance of the Christ-child before the Elders.

The Sorrowful mysteries recall the agony of Jesus in the Garden, the scourging of Our Lord at the pillar, the Savior’s crowning with thorns, the carrying of the burdensome Cross and the death of Christ for humankind’s salvation.

The Glorious mysteries relate the triumph of Our Lord over death, the return of the Savior to His Father, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the bodily-Assumption of Mary into heaven and her coronation as Queen.

What other devotion so graphically unfolds the drama of salvation within the framework of daily prayer? The Rosary, the culminated exclamation of belief and hope, is history and prophecy: it is history insofar as it tells what has been and it is prophecy because it foretells what will be.

The Rosary combines the story of the past, the challenge of the present and the promises of the future into a single montage of Christian life.

For every believer, the Rosary should never be further than a pocket’s length away. The Christian may go to bed hungry, cold or ill, but never before reciting the beautiful and relevant “Psalter of Mary.”    


*NOTE:  Pope Pius IX, born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti in 1792, reigned as Pope from 16 June 1846 to his death in 1878. He was the longest-reigning elected pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving for over 31 years.

Below is a photograph of Matt Talbot's rosary beads which he wore daily.

 

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

"Lines for a Sidewalk Sanctified Where Matt Talbot Died"

One of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most charismatic poets, international speaker, mother of seven children, and a member of the Saint Albert's Chapter of Lay Dominicans, the late Mary Rudge (1928-2014) published multiple books of poetry, including For Ireland (2011). One poem from that volume is presented here:

Lines for a Sidewalk Sanctified Where Matt Talbot Died

On this ordinary place where anyone can walk,

sanctified by pain and faith, in the path of holy,

you, Matt Talbot, of the sidewalk,

can lead us.

The chain scars wrapping your body showed

how you bound it against cravings,

bound it to God,

and the rosary, a link of prayer,

beads on a chain,

these were the strengths you could claim.

You pit your slight self with the power of prayer,

strength of spirit,

against the centuries

of what medicine, science, sociology, psychology,

could claim about addiction—that the

body craves and craves again

against its will.

For the love of God and your own sake,

and the poor mother so hard pressed

to find food out of thin air to feed you,

when all you had belonged to drink,

all you had earned from hard labor was given,

you pawned vest and coat and boots,

pledged-away for next week’s wage

for now a swallow, desperate, captive,

unable to think free, needing to drink.

For your sake and your salvation,

you wrapped yourself in chains,

drug them on your body through life,

vowing to never be any other prisoner

but that of love of God, accept

the body God’s perfect gift to return to God.

Wrapped as a gift, falling in your chains

on the sidewalk,

Were you bead on the Holy Mother’s

Rosary, she who prays sinners be healed?

This is your legacy,

to all us little people who are so human:

lifetime of hard labor,

lifetime of little schooling,

lifetime of innocent wonder

at love’s praises, that

and beyond lifetime, that other

holy mother who clasped you to her

by chain of rosary, pulled you

into heaven and free.


Note:  One source of information about Mary is http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Mary-Rudge/373291096.

Photographs and relics related to Matt Talbot's life

Pilgrimage to the Tomb of Matt Talbot

“On Saturday 27th November, as the Matt Talbot Novena concludes, some parishioners from St. Senan's Parish, Shannon, Co. Clare made a pilgrimage of Matt Talbot in Sean McDermott Street, Dublin.
Fr. Brian Lawless, the vice postulator for the cause of Venerable Matt Talbot, celebrated Mass for the pilgrims at the tomb. He also spoke about the life of Matt and shared the relics with those who had come on pilgrimage...Our thanks to Pat Grue for the photographs.”

[Triple-click each photograph to enlarge]


Source: http://www.shannonparish.ie/2011/11/pilgrimage-to-the-tomb-of-matt-talbot

/

Rosary of the Hours Book Dedicated to Venerable Matt Talbot

In our search for information on Venerable Matt Talbot, we periodically find a book, message, reference or article dedicated to Matt, even though the content may not be specifically related to him. One example is this free eBook, The Rosary of the Hours, published by Our Sunday Visitor Publishers (2008) and compiled by a Brother of Penance of the Secular Franciscan Order. (JB)

The Rosary of the Hours: Introducing a New Way to Pray an Ancient Prayer

"St. Paul exhorted the young Church to pray always. And over the course of centuries, the Church introduced the Rosary, a simple yet profound prayer for praising God and meditating on the holy mysteries of Christ and His Blessed Mother. Now there is a way to pray the Rosary "around the clock," whereby a decade, with its own special theme, may be prayed for each of the twenty-four hours of the day.
Whether for Eucharistic Adoration in your parish, or for private devotion in your home -- or wherever or whatever your circumstances -- the Rosary of the Hours provides a simple and inspirational method of sanctifying every hour. Specially chosen prayers from the Psalms, beautiful meditations gleaned from the Popes, and suggested Scripture passages for further meditation are yours, to inspire and comfort, whatever the time, day or night.
Our Sunday Visitor provides the Rosary of the Hours free-of-charge to all." 

  

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-rosary-of-the-hours/id495581966?mt=8

Click here to download in single pages (PDF format)»
Click to download in booklet form (PDF format)»

The Sorrowful Mysteries of Addiction

One of Matt Talbot's many spiritual practices was his devotion to the rosary. Not only did he pray the rosary in church and in his room but even if there was a lull at work, Matt was seen by co-workers to retire to a quiet corner among the stacks of wood to recite his rosary on his knees. Along with chains, a heavy rosary was found around his neck at the time of his death.

For those interested in praying a rosary today, James Hahn has provided us with "The Sorrowful Mysteries of Addiction." It can be found at http://www.realliferosary.com/addiction.html.