Category Archives: Novenas

Novena to Matt Talbot for Alcoholics: Day 5

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Today we pray Day 5 of our Novena to Matt Talbot for Alcoholics. Like yesterday we begin with:

PRAYER FOR THE ADDICTED

God of mercy, we bless You in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who ministered to all who come to Him. Give Your strength to N., Your servant, bound by the chains of addiction. Enfold him/her in Your love and restore him/her to the freedom of God’s children. Lord, look with compassion on all those who have lost their health and freedom. Restore to them the assurance of Your unfailing mercy, and strengthen them in the work of recovery. To those who care for them, grant patient understanding and a love that perseveres. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Forgiveness is healing. No matter how hard it can be, to forgive someone releases you from the bondage that they have over you by the act they committed.

More than likely the person you are praying for has harmed you. All of us alcoholics has harmed someone in some way. No one is innocent.

Forgive. Even if it takes time due to the severity of the act, forgive. Remember the Lord’s Prayer and it conditions for receiving God’s mercy:

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

If we don’t forgive others for the wrongs they have committed against us, we cannot expect God to forgive us for the wrongs we have committed.

You can start small by opening up to the person. A small act of kindness can smooth the way for forgiveness.

We conclude the daily novena with:

Official Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Matt Talbot

“Lord, in your servant, Matt Talbot you have given us a wonderful example of triumph over addiction, of devotion to duty, and of lifelong reverence of the Holy Sacrament. May his life of prayer and penance give us courage to take up our crosses and follow in the footsteps of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Father, if it be your will that your beloved servant should be glorified by your Church, make known by your heavenly favours the power he enjoys in your sight. We ask this through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.”

The source of these prayers is Circle of Prayer – Matt Talbot Intercedes for Alcoholics .

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Novena to Matt Talbot for Alcoholics: Day 4

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Today we pray the fourth day of our Novena to Matt Talbot for Alcoholics. Like yesterday we begin with:

PRAYER FOR THE ADDICTED

God of mercy, we bless You in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who ministered to all who come to Him. Give Your strength to N., Your servant, bound by the chains of addiction. Enfold him/her in Your love and restore him/her to the freedom of God’s children. Lord, look with compassion on all those who have lost their health and freedom. Restore to them the assurance of Your unfailing mercy, and strengthen them in the work of recovery. To those who care for them, grant patient understanding and a love that perseveres. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Endurance is a recurring personal theme for me recently. Focusing on the person that is the subject of your prayer, however, what might they be enduring as they are going through the suffering they are experiencing?

Despair, probably. The despair of never being free from their addiction and never being able to enjoy life without their drug of choice.

Imagine the darkness they are in. You have most likely been there as well. Remember it and pray that they will see through it as you did. Reach out if you can and connect with them. Give them the hope they lack. You’ve been through it and they can, too.

If you, however are the one that is there, know that it does get better with perseverance. There is nothing so unique about your sufferings now that will make you an exception.

Others have made it through the darkness, I did.

We conclude the daily novena with:

Official Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Matt Talbot

“Lord, in your servant, Matt Talbot you have given us a wonderful example of triumph over addiction, of devotion to duty, and of lifelong reverence of the Holy Sacrament. May his life of prayer and penance give us courage to take up our crosses and follow in the footsteps of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Father, if it be your will that your beloved servant should be glorified by your Church, make known by your heavenly favours the power he enjoys in your sight. We ask this through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.”

The source of these prayers is Circle of Prayer – Matt Talbot Intercedes for Alcoholics .

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Novena to Matt Talbot for Alcoholics: Day 3

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Today we pray the third day of our Novena to Matt Talbot for Alcoholics. Like yesterday we begin with:

PRAYER FOR THE ADDICTED

God of mercy, we bless You in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who ministered to all who come to Him. Give Your strength to N., Your servant, bound by the chains of addiction. Enfold him/her in Your love and restore him/her to the freedom of God’s children. Lord, look with compassion on all those who have lost their health and freedom. Restore to them the assurance of Your unfailing mercy, and strengthen them in the work of recovery. To those who care for them, grant patient understanding and a love that perseveres. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Yesterday I wrote about that the person you are praying for may be at the “jumping off place”, that point where the person decides between continuing to drink and die, or not drinking and maybe live.

As I write this post, it is a Sunday, the day dedicated to worshipping God. Perhaps the struggling alcoholic feels abandoned by God and completely alone. Nothing much can feel worse. If God has abandoned you, why would anyone else bother with you? Or maybe if God doesn’t exist, and then how would life have any meaning? A life without meaning is a life not worth living.

At this point you pray harder for the individual. You also might want to reach out and touch the person. One little kindness, one small act of interest can have a major impact and go a long way towards enabling the person to reconnect with God and other people. It may make the difference in the decision he or she makes while in their “jumping off place”.

We conclude the daily novena with:

Official Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Matt Talbot

“Lord, in your servant, Matt Talbot you have given us a wonderful example of triumph over addiction, of devotion to duty, and of lifelong reverence of the Holy Sacrament. May his life of prayer and penance give us courage to take up our crosses and follow in the footsteps of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Father, if it be your will that your beloved servant should be glorified by your Church, make known by your heavenly favours the power he enjoys in your sight. We ask this through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.”

The source of these prayers is Circle of Prayer – Matt Talbot Intercedes for Alcoholics .

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Novena to Matt Talbot for Alcoholics: Day 1

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Today we pray Day One of our Novena to Matt Talbot for Alcoholics. We begin with:

PRAYER FOR THE ADDICTED

God of mercy, we bless You in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who ministered to all who come to Him. Give Your strength to N., Your servant, bound by the chains of addiction. Enfold him/her in Your love and restore him/her to the freedom of God’s children. Lord, look with compassion on all those who have lost their health and freedom. Restore to them the assurance of Your unfailing mercy, and strengthen them in the work of recovery. To those who care for them, grant patient understanding and a love that perseveres. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Pick a person in your life that you know is struggling with alcohol or some other addiction. You can pray for yourself, but if praying for others rather than ourselves we often find our own lives bettered. But if you’re still in the serious throes of addiction, then pray for yourself. Others reading this novena will pray for those who have to pray for themselves.

But think about that person. And that individual is still a person, regardless of their condition. Is he/she still caught in their addiction? Or are they clean and sober for awhile but are just going through a rough patch that is threatens their sobriety? But for the grace of God go you.

Pray for that they be strengthened, that their faith become a rock upon which the hazards of daily living crash upon and disperse.

We conclude the daily novena with:

Official Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Matt Talbot

“Lord, in your servant, Matt Talbot you have given us a wonderful example of triumph over addiction, of devotion to duty, and of lifelong reverence of the Holy Sacrament. May his life of prayer and penance give us courage to take up our crosses and follow in the footsteps of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Father, if it be your will that your beloved servant should be glorified by your Church, make known by your heavenly favours the power he enjoys in your sight. We ask this through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.”

The source of these prayers is Circle of Prayer – Matt Talbot Intercedes for Alcoholics .

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Novena to Matt Talbot for Alcoholics

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Today we shall begin a Novena for Matt Talbot’s intercession. A novena is a series of prayers said over 9 days and is rooted in Sacred Scripture in the 9 days that the Apostles and Mary prayed between the time Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven and the Holy Spirit’s descent on Pentecost).

We Catholics pray to (or through) saints and others believed to be in Heaven solely for their power to intercede for us. Saints have no other power than intercession. If a prayer is granted, it is because God willed it and granted it. The saint only interceded for us. Kind of like if you asked me to pray for you because of something going on in your life.

Why a novena to Matt Talbot? Well, although not a saint (YET), he had been declared a “Venerable” by the Church in 1975. That is the first step towards canonization. Matt, when canonized, will probably be declared the Patron Saint of Alcoholics. In the sidebar of this blog there are a list of links in the “Catholic Resources for Alcoholics”, among them are several on him. One of the best places to get to know him is at the Venerable Matt Talbot Resource Center .

Anyway, Matt Talbot died on June 7, 1925. As today is May 30, today we begin the novena which would then end on the anniversary of his death. This is traditional for novenas, although you can say a novena at anytime of the year. One traditionally starts a novena 9 days prior to the feast day as your prayers are joined by everybody else that is also saying the novena.

The next post begins the novena.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Day 9 of the Novena to the Holy Spirit for Alcoholism and Recovery

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All 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit have been prayed for: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.

To round out the last day of the Pentecost novena for alcoholism I decided to petition for sobriety. It isn’t a gift of the Holy Spirit, but if you live according to the Spirit, it is a natural result.

Like in the previous days, we start with the prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Sobriety means much more than not drinking. Just like “peace” doesn’t mean “no war”. Sobriety means clear-headedness, a cool and balanced view of things. Faith going hand-in-hand with reason.

It is an emotional balance. As alcoholics we had a warped emotional interpretation of events and situations and our response was therefore as warped and imbalanced as our perceptions. Sobriety means that we have taught ourselves how to handle these situations. We retrained ourselves how to properly respond to stuff. A goodly dose of sincere humility, that there is a God and we’re not Him mixed with an ability to choose those things that we can change from those we can’t, and we have the beginnings of sobriety.

We maintain this sobriety through prayer, religious devotion, and spiritual growth; a balanced and respectful attitude towards people and things; and service to others. Twelve Step or alternative recovery programs may supplement these.

From 1 Peter 5: 8-9;

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour.
Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.

Resist the alluring call of the drink, know that others are going through the same sufferings as you, regardless of the length of sobriety.

Oh, Holy Spirit, grant me sobriety. I ask you this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Day 8 of the Novena to the Holy Spirit for Alcoholism and Addiction

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Today for this novena we petition for Fear of the Lord.

As before, we start with the prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Fear is the misunderstood part of this gift. Fear is misunderstood to imply that God is a harsh, brutal unforgiving taskmaster that we should cower and cringe before in mortal terror.

Fear is perhaps better understood as meaning respect. We must respect the Lord our God who created us and sustains us throughout our lives and who decides when that life is over.

After receiving all of the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, we can understand that receiving fear of the Lord as not to be something, well, feared. A healthy, deep and loving respect for God is a natural result of the spiritual development and growth that devotion to the Holy Spirit brings.

Many alcoholics upon recovering reject organized religion as it is felt to be a sign of an unrelenting and unforgiving God. This is based on their past alcoholic relationship with the Church. The interesting thing is that in their recovery, at least according to the 12 Steps, they are to make amends to all they have hurt, to “clean up their side of the street” and to be open to healing all parts of their lives. But they (in my experience) leave out the Church. They harbor and nurture a lingering resentment towards the Church. To me this is a land mine waiting to explode. Regardless of one’s opinion on organized religion, to not heal all of your past alcoholic relationships is an incomplete recovery. This view of organized religion may ultimately poison a relationship with God.

To say that “I believe in God, but not religion”, is like saying “I believe in air, but not in breathing”.

Pray for a healthy, loving respect for God. It will affect all your relationships.

Oh, Holy Spirit, give me a deep and respectful fear of the Lord, our God ,who gave me life and sustains me though all my sufferings. I ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Day 7 of the Novena to the Holy Spirit for Alcoholism and Recovery

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On this day of the novena to the Holy Spirit, we petition for the gift of piety.

As in previous days, we start with the prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

False notions of piety include holier-than-thou self-righteousness, or a heavy-handed religious devotion focusing more on rules. Piety is actually a sincere, humble and faithful devotion to God, a pure religious and spiritual devotion lacking any mere human concerns.

Piety elevates us above the level of ordinary spiritual seeking and growth because it necessarily includes religion. Without religion we are merely stumbling around in the dark, designing our own god and going along the easiest path. Religion “imposes” duties and obligations that distinguishes us from the purely secular realm. It helps us focus on God, His love for us and aids in our response to Him. Religious duties and obligations are more easily followed when we honestly and sincerely seek to understand them and their meanings and origins. Otherwise we just think they are burdensome human inventions that people reject and then go off to be “spiritual” and not “religious” (a post on that is in the works).

For a recovered alcoholic to be pious means to have a sincere religious faith mixed with a desire for spiritual growth that challenges you to conquer your inner demons (or “character defects”). Interior conversion and conquering these demons is always a consideration for people leaving alcoholism and addiction, especially if you want to do “whatever it takes” to remain free of the addiction.

Matt Talbot was a pious man, free from addiction to alcohol through his practice of the Catholic faith. He independently discovered and lived a life according to the Twelve Steps of popular recovery movements years before they were written down. He is an excellent model for the person in recovery. Much can be learned about him here .

Being pious is not being self-righteous. Piety helps steer us in the direction of spiritual growth towards God and enables us to live religious lives.

Oh, Holy Spirit, bestow upon us the gift of piety so that we may sincerely seek out God in all things. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Day 6 of the Novena to the Holy Spirit for Alcoholism and Recovery

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On this day of the novena to the Holy Spirit, we petition for the gift of fortitude.

As before, we start with the prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Fortitude is inner strength, a courage to face adversity. We also know this as the ability to endure and suffer through trials, troubles and tribulations.

We alcoholics know all these way too well.

Lack of true fortitude drove us to drink. Alcohol afforded us a false sense of fortitude. We needed to “fortify” ourselves before any stressful endeavor. Anything that we knew would be a source of anxiety was an excuse for a drink.

Alcoholics and addicts sometimes talk of a “hole in the soul” that their addiction filled. Upon recovery that hole is filled by the grace of God and His increased presence in it. Fortitude may be one of the most direct gifts of this “hole filling” presence of God. With an increased devotion to the Lord, and a transfer from alcohol and drugs to God for our spiritual fulfillment, we may find the inner strength needed to take on and handle our daily troubles.

Oh, Holy Spirit, bestow upon me the gift of fortitude so that I may see through my sufferings today and bear witness to the strength that faith and hope in You brings. I ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Day 5 of the Novena to the Holy Spirit for Alcoholism and Recovry

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On this day of the novena, we petition for the gift of counsel.

Like before, we start with the prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Counsel is the enlightening of the mind by the Holy Spirit so as to better discern God‘s will in choosing between right and wrong. (I usually get counsel confused with knowledge.)

We alcoholics are experts at choosing between right and wrong. Unfortunately we almost always picked the wrong choice while drinking. The first major right choice we made was when we arrived at the “jumping off” point, that moment when we hit bottom and decided between life and death. Life, meaning not drinking may be actually better than drinking. “If I continue to drink, I will die. If I stop drinking, I may only want to die.”

After sobriety sets in, we face countless right-or-wrong choices. As alcoholics, these decisions go deeper than “normal” people (those who can drink safely). As alcoholics, we need to learn how ourselves to handle sobriety. We need to retrain ourselves in how we react to situations and events that “normal” people take in stride without a thought. My favorite personal example are intersections and grocery stores. I need to think in advance while stopped at a red light that sometimes people may actually take 5 or more seconds to hit the accelerator after the light turns green. By think I mean ponder and remind myself. Most people are probably just on automatic and go on green after a habit-formed period of time passes, allowing for traffic conditions. No, not me. I have to meditate because I am convinced that after waiting at the red light for however long it’s on, people forget that green means “go”. For grocery stores is similar. I have to remind myself that people are not intentionally moving their shopping carts slowly down the middle of the aisle just to inconvenience me, or that the checker is intentionally driving me insane by slowly running the items over the scanner and bagging them.

Those two personal examples are moments when I need the gift of counsel, this inner light of reason as to which path to take (in my examples the path of patient waiting or impatient burning).

Counsel is like the Holy Spirit is your personal Twelve Step sponsor.

Oh, Holy Spirit, give me the gift of counsel so that I may always choose right over wrong. I ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)