The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-01-21
Intensely Interesting Sketch of
the Sanity Priest.
GREAT TEMPERANCE APOSTLE
The Service Rendered to Humanity
During His Mission.
H0N0RED THE EMANcIPAT0R.
Received a Grand Ovation in the
United States.


Tobias Mathew, the fourth son of
James Mathew, and Anne White, his
wife, of Cappawhite, in the County of
Tipperary, was born on the 10th of Oc-
tober, 1890, at Thomastown Castle.
While Toby was still a little boy his
with him, and resided for the rest of his
life in Rathlocheen House (this house
passed away from the Mathew family
many years ago), about q quarter of a
mile from the castle. There Toby passed
his youth, and so long as the house re-
mained in the possession of the family,
he returned thither to spend the Christ
mas holidays. AS soon as he was old
enough Lady Elizabeth Mathew sent him
to a boarding school in Kilkenny, and
at the age of II he entered the College
of Maynooth in order to prepare for
Holy Orders. Soon after his admission he
entertained some of his fellow students
in his room. This was a breach of dis
cipline; and fearing the worst conse-
quences, when it had been discovered, he
left the college and returned home. When
he presented himself at Rathcloheen it
is easy to imagine the pain it gave to
his piOur mother, who desired to de-
vote the best of her sons to the church,
until she learnt the cause of his return,
and found that his mind was unchanged.
Having decided on becoming Francis
can Capuchin, he was ordained priest
on Easter Saturday, 1914, by Archbishop
Murray and was sent to join another
priest of his order at Kilkenny. His
stay in that city was brief. The bishop
having been informed that FIR. Mathew
had administered holy communion at
Easter, suspended him without inquiry.
He was engaged hearing confessions
when the note of suspension was handed
to him. He rose Immediately, telling
the persons around his confessional to
seek another priest The bishop, having
discovered his error, apologized, but Fir.
Mathew being resolved to quit Kilkenny,
set out for Cork. There he continued to
discharge his sacred duties for twenty
four years, before commencing the tenn
perance movement, winning by the ur-
banity of his manners the holiness of
his life and his great charity the good
will and esteem of all classes.
YChCuob hic hoart o1owod with
gious fervor, he was free from every
trace of sectarian rancor; he regarded
those differing from him in religion with
the same feelings of good will as he
showed to the members of his own creed.
1t was this all-embracing charity that
seemed to commend him to the Society
of Friends in Cork as the man fittest to
lead temperance movement. A sketch
of Fir. Mathew, written about the year
1885, shows what manner of man the
ys>ng priest then was, and how the
promise he then gave was fulfilled.
Archdeacon O'Shea says:
''His principal talent lies in the dis
posal of the persuasive topics. He is
fond of appealing-and in truth he does
SO with success-to the warm devotion
al feelings that have their fixed and
natural seat in the Catholic bosom; to
the devotional recollections and associa-
tions that alternately soothe and alarm
the Catholic mind. To all these he ap-
peals; matters SO full Of thrilling in
terest and of inherent eloquence, that
they burst on the soul with an all-ab-
sorbing instantaneous and electric force,
purifying and ennobling the commonest
phraseology that happens to be selected
rs their vehicle. Thus has this excel
lent young man gone on notwithstanding
many imperfections which may yet be
removed by ordinary study and atten-
ton, preaching earnestly and success
fully, and enforcing truth, and illustrat-
ing the beauty of the doctrine of his re-
ligion by the noblest, the fairest and
most convincing comment-the unde-
waiting rectitude, the unspotted purity,
the extensive and indefatigable benefi-
cence of his life, 81 sic omnes.'
Thus early in his missionary career,
a sense Of his personal holiness impress
ed all who came into contact with him
and won the love and reverence Of the
great community among whom he min
istered The late John Francis Mcguire,
referring to late period of his life, also
bears testimony to the marvellous effect
produced upon his hearers whenever FIR.
Mathew aDpealcd on belNalf of the DOOr
and the suffering. "At times" says Ma
guire, "his words produced an electrical
effect and haunted the memory with i'm
fading freshness To this day the writer
remembers as vividly as if they were
spoken but yesterday, though they were
heard by him more than twenty years