The 'drunk's Angel of hope.
.
Yesterday, Matt Talbot Sunday no less, I linked to Shadowland's post on Fr. Pfau, one of the first priests to admit he was an alcoholic - a significant and corageous admission in any day - but especially so back in the 1940's and '50's. Fr. Pfau knew Sr. Ignatia, which prompted me to check the biography I have of the nun, Sister Ignatia - Angel of Alcoholic Anonymous, by Mary C. Darrah to see if he was mentioned in the book. He was.
.
A brief biography of Sr. Ignatia.
.
"The alcoholic is deserving of sympathy. Christ-like charity and intelligent care are needed so that with God's grace he or she may be given the opportunity to accept a new philosophy of life." -Sister Ignatia
.
Mary Ignatia Gavin (1889–1966) of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine was known as The Drunk's "Angel of Hope"
.
Sister Ignatia was born in Ireland as Bridget Della Mary Gavin on 2 January 1889 at Shanvalley, Burren, in County Mayo.
.
Sister Ignatia took her vows in 1914 with the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. As a superb musician, was called to teach music. She did this for about 10 years but found it "too hectic" and suffered a nervous breakdown. When she recovered, she began working as a nurse. On August 16, 1935, Sister Ignatia was in charge of admissions at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio. She and Dr. Bob Smith (doctor), admitted the first alcoholic patient who would be the first of millions to participate in the Twelve-step program of recovery.
.
Many of ideas of Alcoholics Anonymous ideas — including the use of tokens to mark milestones in sobriety — were introduced by Sister Ignatia. She gave alcoholics leaving St. Thomas a Sacred Heart medallion, instructing them that the acceptance of the medallion represented commitment to God, A.A. and recovery. She added that if they were going to drink, they should return the medallion first.
She was also the first to recognise the use of coffee for alcoholics, insisting that it be freely available in every stage of recovery.
.
Between 1935 and 1965 she successfully treated thousands of alcoholics. Sister Ignatia pioneered the recognition of alcoholism among priests and nuns. She was remembered for her kindness, honesty and nonjudgmental love. - Wki
.
Priests thrown under the bus.
.
That analogy never fails to make me laugh since I always visualize a person laying under a city bus. It is used repeatedly these days for anyone and everyone who feels mistreated, betrayed, made a scapegoat for the failings of others, or just 'gotten out of the way' as in 'swept under the rug'. If that happened to any group of priests however, never was it so pronounced as it was in dealing with the alcoholic priest syndrome, relatively rampant in the late 1940's, 1950's and early '60's. Bishops didn't want to admit it nor did they want to deal with it. Yet Sr. Ignatia and her colleagues knew it had to be dealt with.
.
To some degree, Sr. Ignatia was held back in her mission by her bishop and religious superior who sought to quell her enthusiasm and humble her for singularizing herself through her work and speaking engagements. Sr. Ignatia accepted this with humility and obedience. Nevertheless, critics at the time voiced concerns criticizing the tendency to hide the problem and deny that alcoholism amongst the clergy was as serious as it was. One physician told a priest at a Clergy Conference:
.
"The trouble with you priests is you all have 'dignosclerosis,' hardening of the dignity. If you weren't afraid to make a mistake, you'd be out curing people of these things." (Makes me think of the Scripture; 'do no harm to my annointed' - used as a convenient maxim by some religious to hide behind and use as an excuse to insulate themselves from criticism.)
.
"How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?" - John 5: 44
.
The fear was that the Church's reputation would be tarnished if it became known that alcoholism was a problem in the priesthood, or that priests were members of AA. A frequent lament whispered at the time was that the bigger concern of the bishops was aimed at safeguarding the image of the Church rather than saving the lives of alcoholic priests. As one priest observed, "Frankly, I don't think the Church (the reputation of the Church) needs saving as much as the (alcoholic) man (priest). God's cause is often hurt by people who are trying to save God."
.
Anyway, along comes Fr. Pfau, who broke the anonymity barrier and announced himself as the first priest to join AA. Amongst other achievements, Fr. Pfau organized the Clergy Conference in Indianapolis, and authored the popular pamphlet series The Golden Book. That was way back in 1949.
.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
.
As the author Mary Darrah observed: "Most often a priest's addiction and even his recovery were hidden from view. The Church's frank denial that alcoholism was a common enough problem among her priests created serious obstacles to prevention, education, and treatment efforts attempted on their behalf." - Sister Ignatia, Chapter 6, An Unfinished Mission: Alcoholism and Catholic Problems
.
An unfinished mission indeed.
.
More links:
.
Angel of AA
Sr. Mary Ignatia, A Founder of AA
Photo Credit
.
A special thanks and remembrance in prayer for my friend Ty who gave Sr. Ignatia's book to me several years ago.
