Abbey-Roads2

His life in brief. 

He died on Trinity Sunday, on June 7, 1925.  Dropped dead on the street.  At the hospital it was discovered he had metal chains embedded in his waist.  They were a sign of his devotion to Our Lady according to St. Louis De Montfort’s “True Devotion”.  He was identified as Matt Talbot, a common laborer living in Dublin.

Though a simple man, Matt became friends with a priest or two from Trinity College..  They would get together and talk about spiritual things.  Otherwise Matt was pretty quiet, keeping to himself.  He prayed much, and read much.  He gave away most of his weekly earnings to the missions and the poor. 

He came from a working class Irish family and took to drink in his youth, wasting his money and time in the pubs, which led to his alcoholism.  One day, to his mother’s surprise, he took the pledge, and found his strength in devotion to Our Lady, daily Mass, long hours before the Blessed Sacrament, fidelity to the duties of his state, and frequent fasts - he was in many confraternities but made profession in the Third Order of St. Francis.  People gradually realized he was holy, but they left him alone.  He never married, once explaining to a young woman Our Lady told him not to.

[So how did I do with an off the top of my head biography?]

His patronage.

He is declared Venerable and therefore one may pray to him.  His beatification seems to be delayed since most of the miracles attributed to him are considered ‘moral’ miracles and not physical.  He has helped a lot of people struggling with alcohol and other addictions to change their lives.

He is a wonderful patron for anyone who lived in sin, especially those with alcohol and substance abuse problems.  Because he was single and embraced celibacy, I would think he might be a special patron to single men as well.  After reading a few emails from men in Courage, it occurred to me Matt would be especially helpful to these folks.

His formula for sanctity accords with what I know of the Courageprogram.  His addiction to drink may be said to  parallel many in the gay community, who frequent the bars, using alcohol and drugs.  (No- all gay people are not alcoholics, so please don’t think I am saying that here.)  I believe Matt would understand that sense of alienation and shame some gay people say they experience.  (What penitent wouldn’t?)  And he is surely a manly, sturdy example to inspire a person to accept the loneliness gay people seem to experience in an unique manner.  (Studies and anecdotal evidence suggests acting out is often a result of an intense loneliness.  Examples would include auto-eroticism as well as anonymous sexual encounters.)

A moral disorder.

In his day, alcoholism was considered strictly a moral disorder, whereas today, it is generally considered to be a physical, or psychological disorder.  This view developed because of studies which demonstrate the alcoholic often acquires a physical dependence accompanied by physical cravings, while there is often a psychological or emotional element the addiction masks. 

The drunk was repulsive to respectable people, who regarded him as a wastrel, a degenerate, someone not to be trusted.  Even after “going on the wagon” most people refused to trust the drunk.  Much later in his life Matt advised his sister, “Never look down on a man, who cannot give up the drink - it is easier to get out of hell!”.   Nevertheless, people did look down on them, even while they were trying to stay sober.

Hate the sin - love the sinner.

Today, many people who are gay - even if they are struggling to live in obedience to the teachings of the Church, as those folks in Courage do, frequently experience an attitude they define as bigotry.  Active gays are still the best people to hate - or at least that appears to be the case on many blogs - especially when you read the comments people post.  Sadly, it also seems to be acceptable to lambast those misled by dissident clergy, who believe monogamous relationships between same sex couples is okay.  This category of gay people, though disoriented from the truth, are often treated with angry contempt.  Sometimes these souls can simply be ignorant of the truth, deluded in the faith, due to bad catechesis, as one blogger suggested on her post today.  (Of course, I’m not referring here to militant gays, those who attack the Church, and express contempt for Her teachings and the Magisterium.  In the face of such open hostility, the Catholic must stand firm, while defending the teachings of the Church.)

On the other hand,  penitents with SSA, not excluding those in Courage, say they continue to experience themselves as outsiders.  They sometimes feel as if they’re wearing an invisible scarlet letter (”S” for sodomite) in the eyes of many church people.   I suspect that is why I get email comments from SSA people instead of comments on a post, because they don’t want to be attacked.

Understanding the difficulty.  

Matt Talbot explained to his sister that it was easier to get out of hell than for an alcoholic to overcome his addiction.   I believe the same can be said for those trying to stop using drugs, as well as those who are emerging from a disordered life in gay culture - which often included difficulties with drugs and alcohol.  It seems to me, one of the most difficult aspects of change for the person with same sex attraction must be that secular culture more or less approves of the lifestyle - it has become acceptable behavior - and increasingly, protected behavior.  The literature, the legal system, along with politicians, the professions, including dissident clergy, generally all affirm the lifestyle as normative.

For a gay person to return to the Church, embracing Her teachings, while striving to live a devout celibate life, I believe it must require a degree of heroic virtue, not unlike Matt Talbot practiced.  Since it must be understood, from what Fr. Harvey and Fr. Benedict Groeschl write, same sex friendships, that are chaste, are helpful, if not necessary for people with SSA.  This is especially applicable as regards heterosexual friendship with SSA persons; maybe even more so, since the literature suggests that the gay person often experiences a lack of affinity with straight men and women.  It is not a question of heterosexual persons affirming someone in their ‘gayness’ or homosexuality - not at all; but rather affirming the person in their dignity as a person, a son or daughter of God; male and female as God created them.  

Having expounded on all of this, regardless of what type of addiction or sinful life one is emerging from, Matt Talbot is a good patron to have interceding for you.  Next to the martyrs, penitents seem to be some of the best saints for sinners.