Ven. Matt Talbot

Their story

Matt Talbot was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1856, one of twelve children in a poor family. His father worked on the docks and drank heavily. Matt left school at about twelve and went to work for a wine merchant, where he began drinking. By his teens he was drinking every day, and for the next fifteen years alcohol ruled his life. He spent his wages in the pubs, pawned his boots for drink, and once stole a fiddle from a street musician to sell. In 1884, when he was 28, Matt found himself broke and outside a pub, waiting for friends who did not offer him a drink. He went home, told his mother he was going to "take the pledge," and went to confession for the first time in years. He promised to stay sober for three months, then for a year, and finally for life. The early days were very hard. He went to Mass every morning before work, avoided his old drinking places, and walked the city praying when the craving came. Matt kept that promise for over forty years. He worked as a laborer in a Dublin timber yard, paid back every debt he could remember, and searched for the fiddler he had robbed so he could repay him. He became a Secular Franciscan, prayed for hours each day, read the lives of the saints, and gave most of his wages to the poor and the missions. He died suddenly on June 7, 1925, on his way to Mass. Pope Paul VI declared him Venerable in 1975. He is not yet canonized, but the Church holds him up as a sign of hope for everyone who struggles with alcohol and other addictions.