Prodigal Shepherd
Father Ralph Pfau and Al Hirschberg
This is his story of a priest, an alcoholic, a neurotic
hard back dust jacket include both excellent shape see photos left
copyright 1958 Fourteenth Printing 1980
by SMT Guild Indianapolis Indiana
Sons of Matt Talbot Guild
A short version of this book appeared in Look Magazine under title "A Priests Own Story"
Introduction by Karl Menninger MD
Menninger writes: It is the story of a friend of mine, a priest whose Archbishop was wise enough to see the great usefulness a controlled (Recovered) alcoholic could be in strengthening the resistances of fellow priests and others who cannot make it alone
Pfau never drank until adult hood and and only after he became a priest
it is a very interesting story
After getting sober Pfau devoted his entire life to working with alcoholics (with the support of his Archbishop
He became the first priest to join AA
H traveled more than 50000 miles per year
His talks became famous at retreats alcoholics attended in the 40s and 50s and from them came the Golden Books of AA
These were recorded also on records by the SMT Guild
and republished later the Sobreity and Beyond and More Sobriety and Beyond
even these two books are getting hard to find
Fr Pfau was born on November 10, 1904,
and died on February 19, 1967.
He was a priest in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, ordained at St.
Meinrad Seminary, and received an MA in Education at Fordham University.
In the opening paragraph of his autobiography, "Prodigal Shepherd," Father
Pfau wrote: "All my life, I will carry three indelible marks. I am a
Roman Catholic priest. I am an alcoholic. And I am a neurotic."
I will address these in reverse order:
HE WAS A NEUROTIC
He admits to having "nervous breakdowns," and spending time in
sanitariums. He was twice relieved of his parish. Even after achieving
sobriety, he continued to be plagued by depressions, which were sometimes
severe and long-lasting.
HE WAS AN ALCOHOLIC
He never had a drink until about a year after his ordination. But by 1943
he was sufficiently worried about his drinking to investigate A.A. While
responding to a call from a woman who said her husband was dying, he
learned from the doctor that the man was not dying by merely passed out
from a combination of alcohol and barbital. As Fr. Pfau was leaving the
house he noticed a book on a shelf and asked if he could borrow it. It
was "Alcoholics Anonymous."
When he arrived home it was past 3 a.m., and he was longing for a drink.
But he could not take a drink. He had to say Mass at 6 a.m., so could
neither eat nor drink. But he knew he couldn't sleep, so he sat down in a
chair and started reading the book. And he couldn't take his hands off
that book.
Day after day for three or four weeks, whenever he had a spare hour or two
he would sit in his room reading, studying and thinking. He didn't miss a
day reading the book through at least once. It became seared in his
brain, "word for word, comma for comma, question mark for question mark."
He knew it from cover to cover. And to his amazement, during that entire
period he did not take a drink.
One evening he noticed some AA pamphlets on a side table in the vestibule
of the rectory. At supper he asked who had left the pamphlets and learned
that they were left by Doherty "Dohr" Sheerin, described by the pastor as
"the president or something of A.A. here in Indianapolis."
more of this text continued at links below in RED
