Book Description

Matt's amazing journey, told with dramatic force by a veteran journalist... At first there was nothing extraordinary about Matt Talbot: he was just another heavy drinker and brawler on the bleak and desperate streets of late nineteenth-century Dublin. His life was full of despair, hard labour, and hard drinking. But as Eddie Doherty shows in this fast-paced, inspiring biography, Matt Talbot soon became extraordinary! It began when he took "the Pledge," a promise never to drink again--and kept it. Soon he was directing all his energy to becoming a saint. He still lived and worked where he had when he was a common drunkard, but now his inner life was filled with fervent prayer and heroic sacrifice. Unnoticed except by a few of his closest family members and friends, he grew in holiness to an extraordinary degree right up until his death in 1925. The Vatican is now considering Matt Talbot for canonization. You can find in his humbled and holy life comforting and challenging evidence that holiness is possible today and that no matter how troubled your past has been--or your present may be--you, too, can become a saint.! "Though Matt's life is an encouraging success story particularly for addicts, his meaning in the modern world extends far beyond being the patron of ex-alcoholics. There is something in his story for everyone--worker, sinner, Christian, skeptic, apostle--a glimmer of greatness, humility, and charity that cannot fail to inspire and amaze." - Bruce Publishing. "With the few known facts available regarding Matt Talbot's life, Eddie Doherty, experienced newspaperman and author, weaves an inspiring and dramatic account of the incidents which produced Matt's great transformation... This book, like all of Eddie Doherty's books, is alive with facts and people. The usual Doherty touch is present--punchy sentences and journalistic style." -- Alice M. Nicholson,Books onTrial.