The Dublin Mystic: Matt Talbot

On 8 June 1925, the following news item appeared in the Irish Independent:

Unknown Man’s Death

An elderly man collapsed in Granby Lane [Dublin] yesterday, and being taken to Jervis Street Hospital he was found to be dead. He was wearing a tweed suit, but there was nothing to indicate who he was.

What was not reported was the unusual discovery when he was taken to hospital. He was wearing heavy chains: some wrapped around his legs, others on his body. Mortuary staff puzzled over not just who he was but, also, the meaning of the chains.

The newspaper report had appeared on a Monday morning. Later that night, police ushered a woman into the mortuary. She identified the body as that of her brother: Matt Talbot. A nursing nun present asked about the chains. The dead man’s sister replied simply that it was something he wore, and with that, they were placed in the coffin and the lid closed.

That was not the whole story though; the chains were part of the mystery of the man who had died. They were as symbolic as they were real. The man’s life having been a ‘crossing over’ from the servitude of vice to the freedom of those in chains for Christ.

More here

http://catholicexchange.com/the-dublin-mystic-matt-talbot

Creator of Fake Website Selling Prayers is Forced to Pay Back over $7 Million to Customers

The creator of a fake prayer website, which sold prayers to customers for payment, has been forced to pay restitution of up to $7.5 million to customers he swindled.
Christian Today reports that Benjamin Rogovy, from Seattle, created the for-profit company Christian Prayer Center (CPC) which sold prayers to 125,000 customers for $9-$35 per prayer.
Rogovy created a fake pastor named John Carlson who allegedly ran the website. Rogovy even created a LinkedIn profile for Carlson, describing him as “Senior Pastor, Christian Prayer Center, January 2009-present.”
Rogovy also used the name Eric Johnston as a supposed leader of the company.
The website included “fictitious testimonials from consumers using stock photos that claimed they successfully prayed to avoid home foreclosure, deliver a healthy baby, win the lottery, obtain negative results of an HIV test and put cancer into remission.”
Rogovy is being forced to pay back all the money he took under false pretenses to the victims of the scam.
More here at link.