Nebraska woman promotes sainthood cause for Irish layman Matt Talbot

Published: 2005-01-18

LINCOLN, Neb. (CNS) -- No one needs a godly example more than a recovering alcoholic or addict. Mary Costello, columnist for the Southern Nebraska Register, newspaper of the Lincoln Diocese, said when someone is addicted to drugs or alcohol, the person often goes to a rehabilitation facility or to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting feeling worthless. Addicts do need to know they have a serious problem, she said, but they also need encouragement to get better. "For the alcoholic and addict community, it is so important that we have a saint," Costello said. Venerable Matt Talbot, an Irish layman, could be that saint. He was an alcoholic who found the strength to turn from a life of drinking by relying completely on the holy Eucharist as well as a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother. Talbot was born in 1856 into the poverty of Dublin's inner city. He began drinking at 12 years of age and, like his father and older brothers, became a chronic alcoholic. After 16 years he decided to "kick the habit." A priest helped him, giving him a spiritual program that incorporated practices similar to the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, yet that was 50 years before AA was founded. After a difficult struggle, Talbot found sobriety through prayer and self-sacrifice. Costello, whose family includes several members of AA as well as Al-Anon, has been working for Talbot's canonization for about 15 years.

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