Personal Stories

  
Father Martin, a Sulpician priest and a popular teacher in Baltimore,  had been in serious trouble with his superiors and himself when he arrived at Guest House in 1958.  There had been so many complaints about his drinking that he had been relieved of his priestly duties at a local parish where he had assisted the pastor, a searing humiliation that left him devastated.  But it was also the wake-up call he needed.  A seven-month stay at Guest House would be the beginning of sobriety and a new chapter in his life.  He would not only be restored to his teaching position and parish duties; he would also become a teacher about alcoholism and one of the most influential persons in the recovery field.

He would also become Austin Ripley’s close friend for the rest of Rip’s life.  Within five minutes of meeting Rip, he said, “I want to be just like that man.”  And within the next few minutes, Rip explained to him what he needed to know about his alcoholic condition and what was needed for recovery.  He  also offered this advice:  “Leave your brains right outside the door.  You do not need brains to get well, you need desire.”   And Father Martin had that desire.  “Whatever it was inside this man’s soul that he had, I wanted,” he recalls.  “And I knew when our brief interview was over that he knew and understood me.”  He never drank again.    

Father Ray F.’s Story

Long after Rip’s passing, others offered their own accounts of what happened to bring them to Guest House and recovery.  One of them was Father Ray F. from the Diocese of Toledo.  His moment of truth came in 1983 with a visit from his bishop. 

“It wasn’t a formal intervention, “ he remembers. “ Just my bishop settling onto a couch in my office and saying, ‘Ray, some of the boys are worried about your drinking.’  I started to cry, and ten days later I was at Guest House.  I haven’t had a drink since.” 

Thus did Father Ray F. learn that his kindly bishop and fellow diocesan priests  were aware of his problem.  They were also concerned enough to help promote his recovery.

He now looks back on that as one of the best days in his life.  He also learned that daily drinking had only seemed to sustain him in administrative work which he actually detested.  “I had reached the point where I didn’t think I could continue,” he recalls.  “My efficiency in work was gone and I was even becoming suicidal.” 

Fortunately, another priest in the diocese had also found sobriety at Guest House and was demonstrating peace and serenity that Father Ray could only admire.   But he found himself on the same path when he returned more than two months later.

“The most important thing that happened at Guest House was being introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous.  That became the link to my lifeline today,” he says, adding that he is still active in AA and attends several meetings weekly.  He remembers in particular the wonderful counseling he received from the late Joan Halliday, who was herself a recovering alcoholic.

The second important benefit he received from Guest House was hope that he could continue as a priest.  “I don’t think any place but Guest House could have given me that,” he says.  He also found that fellow priests at Guest House displayed honesty and humility in taking the risks of letting themselves be known in describing their own inner hurts.

While this wasn’t in the plan, Guest House helped him make a smooth transition from administrative work back to parish duties.  With the bishop’s blessing, another Guest House alumnus with terminal cancer invited him to his own parish:  “You help me with my last six months and I’ll help you with your first six months.”  (As it turned out, Ray’s friend passed away in just ten days, and he found himself taking on additional parish duties.)

Twenty-three years after Guest House, Father Ray’s life has been wonderfully transformed.  He has served in several parishes and now holds a chaplaincy in a hospital as well as serving as chaplain of a retirees’ home.  He jogged daily until recently and now rides a bicycle to stay trim and fit at 61.  He continues in his studies.  “But sobriety has been the key for me,” he says, “and for that I am grateful to God, to Guest House, and to AA.” 

Sharing the Gift of Sobriety

Father Jim G., a retired parish priest from Saginaw, Mich. is another alumnus with an inspiring story.  “Guest House helped me accept the fact that I was powerless (over alcohol) and needed help,” he says.  “At Guest House, they stressed AA very strongly.  Austin Ripley stressed the importance of gratitude over and over.  He also made it clear that if you’re gifted with sobriety, you have to share the gift if you’re going to keep it.  Today, I go to four or five AA meetings a week.”  Father Jim recalls that he had been lined up for treatment at another facility, but when he check with friends they all said, “Go to Guest House.”   

A Welcoming Environment

Father “Pete“ D., a Jesuit priest who came to Guest House in late 1971, remembers attending his first AA meeting shortly after his arrival.  “What impressed me,” he recalls, “is that they wanted me to come back.  By this time, most people didn’t want me to come back.” 

He hadn’t really understood how sick he really was, he adds.  But it was so serious he was rushed to a special hospital to be detoxxed.  Then, back at Guest House, he was chosen to be one of six participants in an experimental group therapy program.  This would prove to be a turning point in his recovery, which has lasted to this day.  

Shy and reclusive, he had been spending his days walking the grounds at Guest House.  But in a group therapy session, which was taped, he had a sudden emotional explosion. All the accumulated anger and guilt from years of drinking were released in a raging torrent as the counselor and fellow clients looked on in disbelief.  It was played back, with both Father Pete and the counselor recognizing instantly that he had passed a healing moment that has now expanded into 35 years of continuous sobriety.  Moreover,  the once-introverted priest shed his cocoon to become a speaker and leader of retreats and seminars.

He acknowledges today that he owes this transformation to the Guest House counselors and staff.  Unknown to him, he had been suffering from a second-stage liver ailment as he went into recovery, and further drinking would have been fatal.  

Benefits of daily counseling and fellowship with other priests is one key part of Treatment

Father Ralph R., a diocesan priest, recalls that his drinking problem was developing even while he was doing some of his best work running a large parish with a high school and two associate pastors.  Though he never had blackouts or was arrested for driving under the influence, he admits that he was often in a drugged state.  One warning sign which he ignored was his inability to give up drinking for Lent.  He also received a letter about his problem from a concerned Cincinnati priest; but he ignored the letter.  His drinking increased and he now concedes that he was neglecting many of his duties.

It was a nudge from his bishop that brought him to Guest House in 1975.  “I knew my drinking amount was in the ‘big leagues’ by then,” he says, “so this intervention saved me from grave damage to body and spirit.”  For the first three weeks at the Lake Orion House, he was also depressed because he’d had to resign from his parish work.  It also disturbed him that he was supposed to lead people to God and became a drunk instead.

But drawing upon inner strength and the benefits of daily counseling, as well as fellowship with other priests, Father Ralph was able to move past the depression.  “After that, I really began to take the treatment and enjoy my time there,” he recalls.