A forthcoming docudrama is highlighting how an Irish laborer, now on the path to possible sainthood, has become a patron of those battling addiction—and those thirsting for holiness.
Catholic filmmaker Bill Rose, whose Joyful Films company has garnered two Emmy awards, told OSV News production for Matt Talbot: Urban Mystic began last year, with filming in Dublin and Philadelphia.
The project surveys the transformation of Talbot from a desperate teenage alcoholic to a sober, steadfast man of piety, well prior to the development of 12-step addiction recovery programs and inpatient substance abuse treatment.
Talbot’s “legacy and inspiration really laid the groundwork for recovery in many ways, before AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and … before people even knew what mental health was,” Rose said, adding he was “blown away” by the laborer’s life story.
Born in Dublin in 1856, Talbot received only scant formal education, and at age 12 went to work for both wine merchants and the local port. He began pilfering alcohol, quickly developing an all-consuming addiction that even led him to pawn his clothing.
In 1884, a penniless Talbot—who had been loitering outside a bar vainly hoping a patron would buy him a drink—walked to Dublin’s Holy Cross College and, in the presence of a priest, took a three-month pledge of abstinence.
Despite a fierce struggle, Talbot kept the promise for the remainder of his days, and embarked on an ascetic life of prayer and penance. Having taught himself to read, he pored over spiritual writings, becoming a daily communicant and using his meager income for almsgiving.
A member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association and a Secular Franciscan, Talbot died of a heart attack on a Dublin Street in 1925 as he was hurrying to Mass for Trinity Sunday. Hospital workers discovered what appeared to be penitential chains on his arms and legs.
Talbot’s cause for canonisation was formally introduced in 1937, and he was declared “Venerable” by St Pius VI in 1975. Pope Francis venerated Talbot’s relics during the 2018 World Meeting of Families in Dublin.
Father Douglas McKay—a papal Missionary of Mercy, Philadelphia-based addiction recovery chaplain and executive producer of the docudrama—recalled in a pre-production podcast for the film that Talbot has at times been deemed an unlikely candidate for sainthood since (as one woman put it) “he looks like one of us.”
Rose told OSV News the prospect of bringing the Talbot film project completion, especially ahead of the 100th anniversary of the would-be saint’s death, has seemed equally daunting at times.
The docudrama is relying on a mix of crowdfunding and major donations, he said—a business model successfully used by filmmaker Dallas Jenkins for his hit series about Christ, “The Chosen.”
So far, Rose’s production has financed its December 2024 on-site filming in Dublin, with actor Matt Hayes portraying Talbot.
The trip also included interviews and visits with supporters such as Michael Murphy, a Knight of St Columbanus and a longtime promoter of Talbot’s canonisation cause.
Ken Johnston, who along with Father McKay also serves executive producer of the film, noted that many of those involved with the project will return to Ireland in June for a pilgrimage and celebration of Talbot’s life, with Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin scheduled to preside at a 7 June Mass for the centenary of Talbot’s death.
Both Johnston and Father McKay, who direct Our House Ministries—a Catholic recovery ministry founded by Father McKay in Philadelphia—have seen the impact of devotion to Talbot in navigating the road to sobriety and sanctity. For decades, the two have led “Matt Talbot Retreats,” which offer spiritual healing and guidance on the journey to recovery.
“There’s a huge following there” among such retreatants, Rose said.
The docudrama project has also been a spiritual lesson in trust, said Rose, adding that he’s hopeful the film will be ready in time for the pilgrimage, and will change lives in need of healing.
“God’s got a special place in his heart for this,” said Rose.
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