Patron saints I can't speak to, (it seems to me there must have been one) but Talbot is a 20th century figure.  Antebellum, the big figure would still have been Father Mathew (no saint, but campaigns to have him made one were underway at the time.)  His campaign in Ireland (and he visited America for several years in the late 1840's and early 50's)was remarkably devoid of "traditional" devotions and prayers and the rest of it--it was consciously secular/ecumenical, in theory if not in practice.  Since there wasn't much of a tradition of Catholic temperance before he came along, I wonder about the prevalence of the things you ask about...

His temperance medals served as religious emblems/tokens for some of his Catholic followers, I know (plenty of Protestants condemned them as "superstitious tokens" at the time) 

Since you are in Maryland you might look into the variation of Mathew's society that was gotten up by Bishop Kenrick, who was a big booster of temperance.  Mathew didn't like him because he seemed to want to tie the temperance cause more closely to Catholic ritual and tradition, so perhaps his society had a patron saint.  A place to check would be the Catholic directory for the Diocese of Baltimore from the late 1840's--there may be a page or two dedicated to the society he established.

Paul Townend

Assistant Professor of British and Irish History
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
(910) 962-7542



-----Original Message-----
From: Alcohol and Temperance History Group
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Dick B
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 4:14 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: patron saint "of sobriety" or "for inebriates" ?


Roman Catholicism and "Saints" are not my bag. But I assume you have
thought of Matt Talbott - whenever he was holding forth. Dick B.

Jon Miller wrote:

> from H-Shear ...
>
>> Subject: Antebellum Patron Saints and Devotions
>> Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 08:11:38 -0500
>> From: "Patricia Anderson" <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>> Good Morning H-Shear,
>>
>> Does anyone know if there was a patron saint "of sobriety" or "for
>> inebriates" in the antebellum years? Or perhaps specific devotions?
>> Fielding Lucas's Catholic almanacs list the feast days but not each
>> saint's particular "cause." Many thanks.
>>
>> Pat Anderson
>>
>> Patricia Dockman Anderson
>> Managing Editor
>> Maryland Historical Magazine &
>> The Press at the Maryland Historical Society
>> 410-685-3750 x317
>
>