June 19
Matt Talbot was born in Dublin, Ireland, to a poor family. His father worked on the docks but had a hard time supporting his family. After a few years of school, Matt, age 15, took a job as a messenger for a liquor store and began drinking the dregs of returned bottles of beer. He was an active alcoholic for about the next fifteen years.
Matt’s alcoholism ruled his life. When his pay ran out, he pawned his clothes and his shoes. He stole the possessions of others and then sold them to buy liquor. He once stole a fiddle from a blind street player and sold it to buy alcohol.
One evening outside of a pub, Matt waited, without a penny in his pocket. He had been unemployed that week, and he hoped his friends would come by and invite him to drink with them. They passed him by. He was hurt. He realized that he had been wasting his life. He went home and told his mother, “I am taking the Pledge.” (The Pledge was a movement in Ireland at the time. It was a pledge to renounce liquor for a certain amount of time or forever.) Matt renounced liquor for three months, then for six months, and then for life.
Matt began to live a life of prayer, fasting, and service. He joined the Third Order Franciscans (Secular Franciscans), which gave him community support. He rose at 5:00 a.m. every day to go to Mass before work. He was generous with his money, giving to neighbors, fellow workers, charities, and the Church. On Sundays, he went to several Masses. He gave restitution to all those from whom he had borrowed money or stolen something.
On Trinity Sunday, June 7, 1925, Matt collapsed and died of heart failure on Granby Lane in Dublin. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, but his remains were moved in 1972 to Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Sean McDermott Street, where Matt had spent his life.
He is honored today as venerable, which is the first step toward official sainthood. Matt Talbot is an example of trust in God and willingness to change.
(Image © The Little Museum of Dublin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)