About the Shrine

At a presentation on the life of Matt Talbot at St. Gabriel’s Church in August of 2014, the Vice Postulator for the Cause for Matt Talbot’s Canonization, Fr. Brian Lawless, announced that St. Gabriel’s was the national shrine to Matt Talbot.

Fr. Lawless said that if Matt Talbot had lived in Philadelphia that Grays Ferry would have been his home.

Almost seven years later we have a parish shrine with the hope that some day it will become a diocesan shrine and then the national shrine!

When you visit please update the visitor’s log with the date, time, you name, address and email address. There is also a book for your prayer requests. Prayer requests will be remembered at Masses through the week at St. Gabriel’s and at our weekly Calix Mass!

Our goal is to one day have the shrine available every day. In order to make that happen we need volunteers that will come and sit by the shrine. You can pray, read, o do anything quietly while you are here. If you would like to dedicate 30 minutes or more each week please contact Ken Johnston using in information on the “Contact” page.

Come back often as we update the website with new devotions and activities and as we move towards our dream of one day being the national shrine for Matt Talbot in the United States!

On Sunday May 2, 2021, on the occasion of Matt Talbot’s 165th birthday, we dedicated the shrine!