Happy Father Dowling feast day!

Today is the “feast day” of one of my personal patron saints, Father Edward Dowling, S.J., who died on this day in 1960, which that year was Palm Sunday.

Father Dowling helped spouses save their marriage (via the Cana Conference movement, which he helped found), helped anxiety sufferers find peace (through Recovery, Inc., for which he led meetings), and, most famously, helped untold millions of alcoholics find spiritual healing (via his influence on Bill W. in developing the spirituality of AA’s Twelve Steps). More information about him is scattered throughout the Web; I especially like Mark Judge’s excellent column.