Mattie sent us this story about his recovery for alcohol addiction and his love of the Rosary.
I come from a Catholic background. When we were growing up my parents would have us say the Rosary every evening at about 6.30pm. That happened until we reached our teens when some of us were not be able to be there at the time and my parents were working. So over time we stopped saying the Rosary for a number of years.
During my teens I started drinking alcohol because at the job I was in there was a lot of drinking going on and over the years it took a hold of me and it was not long before I became addict. That went on for a long number of years. Also I started to suffer from depression so during those years my family and myself suffered a lot because of my drinking and my depression. During all this time I did not lose my faith and I kept going to Mass unless I was in treatment centre for my alcoholism. In 1990 I went in for my last treatment with the help of God and his Blessed Mother. When I left I said I was going to give my sobered self a chance. I got involved with AA and put every effort I could give into it and so far it is working for me. Thank God and his Blessed Mother.
After a year or two I started to go to Mass every day and my faith started to get strong. After a few years one of the priests in my parish asked me would I like to become a Minister of the Eucharist and I could not believe he was asking me. I was overwhelmed to be asked and of course I said YES. For someone like me and with my background it was unbelievable to be asked to become a Minister of the Eucharist. A couple of years after that I had to have a bypass and a while later I was asked would I like to go to Fatima. You can imagine my excitement and of course I went. When I came home from Fatima I got very sick and I spent a lot of time recuperating in hospital. It was at that time I started to say the rosary again and one year later I was in Lourdes. I could not ask for more.
My family was very supportive of me all during this time and I have no doubt the Rosary played a big part in this for me, so I continue to say the Rosary. I also attend the Lectio Divina group. I am on the parish council and do voluntary work in the community.
