Matt Talbot

Who they were

Matt Talbot was born in Dublin on 2 May 1856. He went to work at twelve for a firm that bottled beer, began drinking the dregs from returned bottles, and was an alcoholic by sixteen.

At 28 he took the pledge to stop drinking for three months, then pledged to stay sober for life, and kept it. For the rest of his life he lived a hidden life of prayer and penance: rising at 2 in the morning to pray, going to Mass at 5, sleeping on a plank, and studying the early Irish monks. He died suddenly of a heart attack in Dublin on 7 June 1925. When his body was examined, chains were found wrapped around it, worn as a private penance.

The miracles

No miracle has yet been approved. Pope Paul VI declared Matt Talbot Venerable on 3 October 1975, recognising that he lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree. One approved miracle through his intercession is needed for him to be beatified. He is widely prayed to by people struggling with addiction.

Why that counted as sanctity

On 3 October 1975 the Church declared that this life showed the Christian virtues to a heroic degree, and gave the title Venerable.